Mississippi, P-R, 1841-1977, Undated

ious stranger,- Mrs. :Crosby, 23, and her husband. were graduated two years ago from the Unie
versity of Alabama, where Crosby's father is director of extension courses, When relatives
did not hear from them for.some time, the elder Cresby- went to Columbus and initiated a
search which reyealed the bodies buried in a shallow cotton patch grave. Mrs. Crosby was
dressed only in negligee, while.her husband wore overalls and a jumper, Their heads had
bea crushed," TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Yrleans, July 17, 1933 (23/1.)

"Birmingham, Ala., July 17, 1933-A 37-yeareold negro, Jesse Patterson, today was taken to
an unannounced Mississippi.jail shortly after police said he had confessed to slaying Mr,
and Mrs, ugh Crosby on their farm near Columbus, Miss, Officers here and in Mississippi
declined to reveal the destination of Patterson, who was trapped this morning in a North
Side house, where an automobile, rifle, shotgun, ame, and articles of clothing, identified
as belonging.to the slain man were found, Patterson was employed on the Crosby farm and in
his confession police said the negro related that he went to the Crosby home the night of
June 22 and lured the young University.of Alabama graduate to a pasture on the pretext that
his cattle had strayed.
“After striking Crosby on the head with an ax and then looking at him to 'make sure he was
dead,’ the officers said Patterson told them he returned to the house and crushed Mrs, Cros-
| by's skull with the same instrument. No motive was given by the negro for the slayings,
arresting officers said, other than that he wanted to obtain Crosby's automobile to come to
Birmingham, Calmly describing the killing, the officers said, Patterson told them that after
killing Crosby and his wife, who was also a graduate of the University of Alabama, he wrapped
the bodies in sacks and placed them in a shallow grave he had dug earlier in a nearby cotton
patch, A negro serving a life smtence in Kilby prison at Montgomery, was granted.a parole
at therequest of police here for a.'special mission! snd it was information obtained by him
that led to the arrest of Patterson who served a term in the Alabama penitentiary last year
on a charge of larceny, Chief of police J, A. Morton of Columbus and Deputy Sheriff D, P.
Parris.of Lowndes County, Miss., started.for — Mississippi with Patterson a few minutes
after thenegro was reported to have confessed, The slain couple were prominently known in
tuscaloosa, vh ere Crosby's father is director of extension coursesfor the the University of
Alabamae,.eeSuspicion was at once pointed by officers to Patterson, who only recently.
completed a sentence in the Alabamapenitentiary and who had been working on the farm, It was
through the Crosby automobile and the dead man sshoes that he was traced to Birmingham,
Lowndes County Deputy Sheriff Parker Harris and City Police Chief John Morton left Columbus
y esterday to investigate some street addresses they hd secured, They were addresses of
negro women Patterson was said to have known and it was figured they would lead the officers
to his hiding place." TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, La,, 7-18-1933 (Sour-Five),

"Columbus, Misse, Oct, 20, 1933 » Jesse Patterson, young negro farm hand, was hanged in
Lowndes County jail today, paying the death penalty for the ax slaying of Mrs, Irona Hayes
Crosby of Lowndes County and Tuscaloosa, Ala., last June. |
"Patterson, whb confessed to slayins both Mrs, Crosby and her husband, Hugh D, Crosby, in
order to steal their automobile for atrip to Birmingham, went to thg gallows with a ragged
gash in his neck, inflicted yesterday in a suicide attempt," TIMES PICAYUNE, New Orleans,

Laey Oct. 21, 1933 (l/h).

PATTERSON, Jesse, black, hanged at Columbus, Mississippi, on,October 20, 1933...

"Columbus, Mississippi, July 1h, 1933- The bodies of Mr, and Mrs, Hugh Crosby = their skull
crushed and their heads wrapped in sacks = were found today in a shallow grave near their
farm home, The couple, prominent in Mississippi and Alabama, had been missing about three
weeks, Authorities said they would question a negro farm hand who recently left the place,
They withheld the name of the negro and admitted they had no tangible clues to his where-
abouts, The bodies were found by relatives from-Tuscaloaa, Alas, who came here to conduct
a search for them, Hugh Crosby, 27, was the son of WC. Crosby, head of the extension
department of the University of Alabama. His wife, Irona, was 25-years-old.

"When the crude graves were found and the bodies disinterred, Mrs, Crosby was attired in
only her lingerie, ‘The husband had only trousers and a jumper. Their skulls had been
crushed. The heads were wrapped in sacks, The bodies were lying side by side, Police ex-
pressed belief their assailant used a heavy instrument with which to kill them and wrapped
the heads in sacks to prevent leaving a bloody trail, Officers said the bodies apparently
were dagged from the home to the spot about 1000 feet away where they were found today.

As far as could be learned, nothing was missing from the house. A coroner's jury, summoned
by Magistrate H, A. Moody, returned a verdict later in the afternoon that the couple came

to their deaths by some blunt instrument at the hands of an unknown person, Police said’ the
negro they desire to question left the Crosby home in Crosby's automobile on June 23.
Neighbors thought he was sent.on an errand, they.said, ,

"The bodies were taken to Tuscaloosa tonight for funeral services Saturday afternoon, The
graves were located on the edge of a cotton field, Searchers found a spot where dirt had
caved in, After digging about three feet the party found Crosby s coat. Six inches deeper
the bodies were diseevered, Crosby s shoes were missing, An old pair of shoes was found
near the body, Officers said they will attempt to learn if they were left by the assailant
in exchange for the shoes of Crosby. The Crosbys had been Living on, the farm about two
years. lt is the property of Mrs, Crosby's father, Mrs, Crosby's. home was at Fyffe, Ala.
"Deputy Sheriff A, H, Kilpatrick tonight expressed the beliefthe negro would soon be taken
into custody, as a wide dragnet had been spread to near-by counties and in neighboring
States, The deputy said investigating officers at first thought robbery was the, motive, but
an examination of the house revealed that nothing was apparently missing, A number of other
negroes on the farm told officers they had noticed the negro's absence, but didn't know why
he had left. L. W. Bell, who lived about a mile from the Crosby's home, said the Crosbys
disappeared on June 23, but he thought they had left to visit relatives. Officers said
they learned that Mr, and Mrs, Crosby were last seen on June 23 in their automobile with the
negro riding ont he side of the car," TIMES PICAYUNE, New Orleans, 7/15/1933 (3/68).

}

"Columbus, Miss., July 16, 1933Added strength was given today to the theory -that a demented
man visited about three weeks ago thehome of Mr, and Mrs, Hugh Crosby, whose long absence
was solved Friday when their bodies -.were found «in a shallow grave on their farm. They had
been beaten to death, Yesterday Dr. J, W. Lipscomb, President of the Mississippi State
Board of Health, told officers he had received a telephone call from a man who said he was
Crosby, asking him to attend a 'sick cousin,' The physician said he did not think the man
was Crosby, and expressed the belief he was demented, He said the man told him the cousin
had recently been released from a veterans' hospital, The physician said he advised the
skeaper to obtain the services of a government physician.

"Today, Mrs, W. R, McPherson, boarding house proprietor, said that a man came to her house
at midnight on July 3 and asked for a room, declaring he had only recently been released fro
a veteran s hospital, and that he had been staying at the Crosby home, She said she had
talked to Dr, Lipsoomp and that they had agreed that it was probable he was the same man who
telephoned Dr. Lipscomb, She said he appeared to have asthma, and acted 'not at all like a
sane mane' 'He told me he was going back to the veteran's hospital in a few days,’ she saide
"I let him have the room and he left the next morning, July ), without paying me,!

"Officers said they have been unable to learn if Crosby had a cousin who was a war veteran
or who had been in a hospital, Officers tday pushedinto Alabama their search for Jesse
Patterson, negro employee on the Crosby farm, who is reported to have disappeared in the
Crosby automobile the day after the farm couple was missed, Armed with a description of
Patterson furnished by the Alabama penitentiary, in which he allegedly served a 52=day sen-
tence, Deputy Sheriff Parker Harris and City Police Chief John Morton left for an unannounce
destination in Alabama,

"At the same t#me, they were attempting to reconcile the only tangible clues in the bizarre
murder, Authorities said it was possible the negro was implicated in a plot with the myste


29 SOUTHERN (2) 963; 68 SupCtl8; 0 SO (2) 5923 1 SO (2)553 70 Sup Ct LOhs 3 So(2) 21
PATTON, Eddie (Buster), black, 38, electrocuted at Meridian, Mississippi, on 1-12-1950,

"Meridian = (Special.) = Displaying little nervousness except when he was strapped to
the chair, Eddie (Buster) Patton, 38-year-old Negro saved from death twice by appeals to
higher courts, was electrocuted here early Thursday for the 198 slaying of Jim Meadow,
Meridian night club operator. Patton, who was pronounced dead eight minutes after the
juice was tured on at 12:00 asm. by Executioner C. W. Watson, died calmly without
making a last statement. He was executed in the presence of a very few people in the
circuit court room of the Lauderdale County Courthouse although outside the building a
large crowd awaited word that the Negro had gone to his death, Present in the courtroom
at the time of the execution were one white and four Negro ministers. Executioner
Watson left the juice on for one minute. Patton's electrocution was the 83rd in the
state since 193. Earlier the Negro was visited by two aunts and an uncle who reside

in Lauderdale County. His mother, whom Patton said resided in Jackson, did not come by
to bid him farewell, The Negro said that she had not visited him the whole time he was
held in jail the last three years, In a statement made Wednesday, Patton told visitors
that he was 'glad it was all over,' He said that he was 'resigned to my fate.' Patton's
last two meals consisted of fried chicken, rice and gravey, which he had asked that he be
given. He ate heartily, attendants said, The Negro's body has been turned over to a
local Negro funeral home, but no funeral arrangements have been announced," JACKSON (Miss.)
DAILY NEWS, January 12, 1950 (four/2&3.)

"Eddie (Buster) Patton, convicted and sentenced to death three times in two years, has
another appointment with the electric chair on Thursday. Gov, Fielding wright refused
to grant clemency Monday to the Meridian Negro after a plea by Dr. John Atwood, Jr.,

and his mother, Mrs, Je 0. Atwood, Sr., of Meridian, and a petition signed by 219 Meri-
dian residents. Patton was convicted in the Lauderdale County Circuit Court three times
in the fatal shooting of Jim Meadow, opeator of a Meridian night club, The case was
carried to the state and U. S. Supreme Courts. Dr. Atwood said his parents, who had
reared Patton, were convinced he was innocent, 'The man had a fair trial, or several of
them,' the Governor said. ‘I cannot go over the heads of three courts on hearsay evi-
dence or appeals that were not placed in the trial records.' Dr. Atwood said Patton
had told him: 'I am prepared to go. Don't worry about me,.'" JACKSON (Miss.) DAILY
NEWS, January 10th, 1952 (Twelve/2.)

~ Rarenaet andes:

PATTON, Eddie, a
January 12, 1950,‘

Form E-150

INDICTMENT
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI,

__Lauderdale coun ty.

In the Circuit Court of , Lauderdale

County, at the___ August_ Term,
in the Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and_Forty-Eight

The Grand Jury for the State of Mississippi, taken from the body of good and lawful men of _____

__.____Lauderdale _ ______.County, in the State of Mississippi, elected, impaneled, sworn and

charged to inquire in and for said County, in the State aforesaid, in the name and by the authority of the
State of Mississippi, upon their oaths present:

That Eddie Patton

in said County, on the

day of ___ February _ —— A, D., 194.6,

did unlawfully, wilfully, fel onlously and of his malice
aforethought 411 and murder one Jin Meadows,

a_human being
UT

contrary to the form of the Statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of
the State of Mississippi. ag tt

PRS

District Attorney

NE ee te


PATTERSON, Jesse, black, hanged Columbus, Lowndes Co., MS W#MZ Oct. 205.1938

iilinsieeniendabininaiis ) a

112

BOSTON; Mass. — Federal Judge
George H. Bingham of the United States
Court of Appeals signed a mandate stay-
ing the extradition to Virginia of George
Crawford, Negro, wanted in connection
with the slaying of Mrs. Agnes Ilsley.

CHICAGO, Inu.—Police here are check-
ing a report that “Machine Gun” Jack
McGurn, notorious Chicago gangster, had
been killed last week on a local golf
course.

MALONE, N. Y.—Federal Judge Bry-
ant to-day sentenced Joseph Doldo, 19,
of Watertown to sixteen years’ imprison-
ment for sending a threatening letter to
President Roosevelt. The sentence left
the way open for the government to test
Doldo’s mentality.

BIRMINGHAM, Ata—The mystery

surrounding the murder of Mr. and Mrs.
Hugh Crosby on their farm near Colum-
bus, Mississippi, on June 28rd was solved
to-day by the confession of Jesse Patter-
son, a Negro, that he killed them to steal
their coupé.
JULY 18

NEWBURGH, N. Y—Joseph A.
Quinn, alias Dillon F. Dunbar, charged
with the murder of two men in the State
Hospital at Middletown a year ago, will
be tried on one of the first degree murder
indictments September 18. Quinn, a
wanted man, was arrested when identified
through his likeness appearing in the
Line-Up department of True DerrTEcTIVE
Mysreries. He escaped, killed two men;
was re-arrested, and escaped again. His
last arrest occurred in Sioux Falls, 8. D.,
whence he was extradited to New York.

NEW YORK, N. Y.—William Sutton,
escaped convict; Edward Wilson; and
two other men were indicted to-day for
the hold-up of the branch of the Corn
Exchange Bank Trust Company, when
$23,835 was taken.

BARNSTABLE, Mass—Kenneth Buck,
convicted kidnapper of Margaret Mc-
Math, made a plea for a new trial to-day
before Judge Hanify, on the ground that
his confession should not have been ad-
mitted as evidence. The judge took the
matter under advisement.

RICHMOND, Va—John H. Smoot, 47,
was found shot and killed in his bed here.
His wife has been arrested and charged
with the murder.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa—Nathan Da-
shefsky, owner of a shirt factory at
Northampton, Pa., to-day was charged

Joughin’s Talking Picture

(A. T.) Winnirec, Canapa—I have
been a reader of True Detective Mys-
TERIES for a number of years now, but
have been disappointed in your August
issue. The. story of “Joughin, Terror of
the Underworld’”—well, I am surprised at
your printing it after the publicity you
gave Maillefert and Burns cases. In my
opinion, you might as well make heroes
out of the prison camp Officials. The man’s
picture speaks for itself.

Right “From Over the Border,” Too

(G. L.) AMos, QueBec, Canapa—I sug-
gest you cut out further comment on the
notorious Burns and Maillefert cases. The
former is only a yellow belly looking after
cheap advertising and the latter got only
what was coming to any crook. Probably
severe but coming to both ... Do you
personally read mysteries you publish?

True Detective Mysteries

with violating the Mann Act by agents
of the U. S. Bureau of Investigation.
Three’ sixteen-year-old - girl employees
signed affidavits charging that he com-
pelled them to accompany him on trips
to other states, threatening to discharge
them if they refused.

JULY 19

ALBANY, N.’Y.—Fears were expressed
here to-day by officials that John J.
O’Connell, 24, who was kidnapped twelve
days ago has been killed by his abductors.

WASHINGTON, D. C.—Canon Wil-
liam Sheafe Chase, Episcopal leader, made
the startling statement here that he be-
lieved the late Senator Thomas J. Walsh
was murdered to keep him from becom-
ing a crusading Attorney General. Talk-
ing on the subject he said: “I know that
some days before he was killed Senator
Walsh said he would put about twenty
financiers in jail. He was feared by
crooked politicians and crooked financiers.
In these days you can have a man killed
for a few dollars—anywhere from $25 to
$2,500.” —

PHILADELPHIA, Pa—Frank A. Mc-
Clatchy, member of a prominent real es-
tate company, was shot and _ seriously
wounded late to-day while fighting off
two men who attempted to kidnap him.
His brother John H. McClatchy, escaped
unharmed.

JULY 20

SALEM, Mass—Mrs. Jessie Burnett
Costello, on trial here for the murder of
her husband, by poison, scored heavily
against the prosecution to-day by intro-
ducing testimony that her husband had
been assigned to make a study of poisons
and their effects, several weeks before he
died, by his superior in the Fire Depart-
ment,

CHICAGO, Itu.—Rogers Touhy, Chi-
cago gangster, and three of his com-
panions were arrested to-day at Elk-
horn, Wisconsin, as suspects in the kid-
napping of John Factor. Those cap-
tured with him, were, Willie Sharkey,
Gus Schaeffer and Ed McFadden.

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—With the arrest of
four men and two women after a raid
on a farm near Madison, Illinois, Chief
of Police Gerk stated that the kidnap-
ping of August Luer, Alton banker, was
solved. The arrested are: Mr. and Mrs.
Michael Musala; Percy Fitzgerald; Ran-
dall Norvell; Miss Norma Vaughn and
Frank Douglas.

Bravos and Bullets

(Continued from page 3)

T’ll bet you never read “The Sinister
Secret of the Georgia Swamp,” else it
would never have got into print. If he is
a detective, then I am President Roose-
velt, and I am not. Apparently recently
you have to get a “flivver” in every issue;
for example, “Sinister Secret of the
Georgia Swamp,” “Helen Drachman”
story, “Ming Toy,” etc. Keep up your
old standard of stories.

A War Veteran “Raises His Hand”

(F. W. D.) Morcanton, N. C.—I can-
not understand how anybody can be so
hard on Robert Elliott Burns and young
Maillefert as some people are. Not many
years after the Civil War I attended a re-
union of Confederate veterans, The orator
for the occasion, after narrating the many
hardships they endured, asked all the
veterans who went through the War and
never took anything which did not belong

JULY 21

COLUMBUS, 8. C.—Barney Smith, 21,
colored, was electrocuted to-day for at-
tacking a white woman.

INDIANAPOLIS, Inp.—Charles Ver-
non Witt, scheduled to be executed to-
day for the murder of Lafayette Jackson,
has been granted a stay of execution
until: November 24th by the Supreme
Court. The story of this case was given
in the September number of True Derec-
tive Mysteries under the title of “The
Millionaire— The Murderers—And the
Stolen Bride.”

PALMA, Magsorca Istanp—The five
Americans held on charges of assaulting
a civil guard have finally been freed on
bail. They must stand trial however,
though no date has been set for same.
The five are Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Lock-
wood of Springfield, Mass; Rutherford
Fullerton, Columbus, Ohio; Edmund
Blodgett, Stamford, Conn.; and Roderick
W. Mead, New York City.

ALBANY, N. Y—The family ot the
kidnapped John J. O’Connell, Jr., denied
here to-day that they had contacted the
abductors of the young man, but affirmed
their belief that the kidnapping was pure-
ly a ransom case.

LAMBERTVILLE, N. J—Public feel-
ing here is running so high that Prosecu-
tor Anthony M. Hauck ordered the trans-
fer of Andre Kuvoschin, 45-year-old shoe-
maker, to the county prison in- Fleming-
ton. Kuvoschin shot and killed City Re-
corder James D. McKay, 64, -after the
former had been charged with impairing
the morals of a minor.

ASBURY PARK, N. J.—The body of
a man, trussed up Chinese fashion so that
any movement of his feet would result
in his tightening the noose around his
neck, was discovered in heavy underbrush
near the Asbury Park Golf and Country
Club. The man had been dead seyeral
weeks.

JULY 22

MESSINA, Iraty—All seven members
of Nicolo Criso’s family except Criso him-
self died to-day as a result of what the

- police believe to be a poison plot caused

by his business quarrel with Carmelo
Messina. The Messina family has been
arrested.

BERLIN, Germany—Walter Orloff, a
student from Brooklyn, N. Y., was ar-
rested here and charged with treason for
his alleged communistic activities.

to them to hold up their hands. Only one
man in the great. throng raised his hand.
Maillefert for his previous record and
Burns after his seven years penitence
should have been pardoned.

Wants Universal Finger-printing

(B. J. C.) NortH Puarnrietp, N, J.—I
agree with (J. J. Y.) of Hoxie, Arkansas,
that everyone taken into custody should
be finger-printed. In fact all suspects
should be held by the Bureau of Criminal
Identification until word has been re-
ceived from the’ Department of Justice
in Washington as to whether or not they
are wanted by the police of any city or
state. Many police departments do not
finger-print at all, and so many wanted
criminals slip through their fingers. Uni-
versal finger-printing is the only way the
police departments are going to catch up
with the criminals and protect the inno-
cent.

mee es ee oe

Spe:
This |

FIRST: You Lis

"Voulez Vous Fi

HATTIE f
Vo ene

But one must not
of knowing at lea;
necessity! It is true th:
ment, of getting a job, o
doubled by ve Fh anot
one’s social pleasure, hi
what other countries anc

These things were of c
the great Edison and Cc
to ge | the now w
Method of learning lan
sands the world over hi:
true of an isolated Am:
doubly true NOW of an A
and has become a neigh!

French, the diplomatic
your English, will take
And you learn to speak i
you get your Cortinapho:

n Enjoye
From Whic

A Frenchman spe:
the words, phrases, sente:
there is to it. You speal
Speaks it. It’s so easy a
grasps and follows the ic

For an adult, the lez
Italian or German by tl
really an intriguing past
the radio for 15 minutes,
it or not, in but a little w
speaking a foreign langu:
grammar drudgery, memo

You'll Be Amazed

Just listen to this r
natives. Start to speak F)
at once—through the fam:
how quickly you pick u y
Surest way to learn a lan;


. MISSISSIPPI

To the Honorable the sesee dee abs Court,

of. _ _ em County—Greetings:

7 he fy
WHEREAS, on the eased sevacsnoeitas Hubbaieoese . as Pee the same being a day of

the regular term of our SUPREME COURT, begun and held in the Court room, in the Capitol, in the City of Jackson,

in said State, on the....2 2d Monday of Larch , the following

final. Judement..... was rendered by our SUPREME COURT, to-wit:

t
ins teen submitted at a former day of this term on the
the Circuit Court of Lauderdale County and this
examined and considéred the same and being
is no error therein doth order and acjudge
ent of said
judsed that
his crime of murder be safely kept in the County
Jail of Lauderdale Count: until Friday, July lst, 1949, and on that
Ca.e witnin the county jail of Lauderdale County or at such other
conveni place as the Board of Sunvervisors of Lauderdale County

may designa .@, the said Eddie (Buster) Patton be by the duly

id
nd legally constituted and acting person for that »urvose,

elect«ocuted in the manner and form as prescribed by statute, by
sed through the body of the said Edcie (Buster) Pat-
urrents of electricity of such sufficient intensity
continuing until he is dsad, decd. It is further ordered and
adjudged that the County of Lauderdale do vay the costs of this
anpeal to be taxed, etc.

ANd WHEREAS, on the L2t2i.......day ot

, 19.4.9, the same being a day of
the regular term of our SUPREME COURT, begun and held in the Court room, in the Capitol, in the City of Jackson,

in said State, on the....22........Monday of Sentenber pitencdeaubbete » in the year of our Lord, 19.49, the following

was rendered by our SUPREME COURT, to-wit:


Slaves PETER & TONY, blacks, hanged Hamceck Co., Miss, April 20, 1846

; overseer, are denteticnd to be hung

on the 9 Oth-April next. Since the
trial | they bave both made full con-
fessions.of. their guilt.

of . ot Hancock Say uajearecirya

the Lath inst, after a ‘very. tab
ous.week’s: ‘business. The busi-
fiess'0 vf 'twe courts was crowd

into | one, owing ito the. i
cout ‘at. the last regular ters i+.
Bat a great’ deal, 9 fib aes
tranmecied;thabks ta the ‘prompti-
tadeland decision'of Judge Wil-
fis; ed te ney of our enet-
¢ solicitor. @ Sade ae |
err 7 criminal cases, were
: a rhe thes

5 > The a eae

i &

Page two, columns one & two


PERDUE, Pattie and VIVARETT, Leon, blacks, hanged Forest, Scott Co.,
January 13, 1922.

“Jackson, Miss., Jan. 9.-Governor Russell has notified the Sheriff of Scott County, Miss.,
to go ahead with preparations for the hanging of two negroes, Pattie Perdue, a woman, and Leon
Vivarett, next Friday, the state pardon board having declined to interfere with the mandate of the
supreme court. These negroes were convicted of murdering Alton Page, a white man. The crime
was most barbarous, the victim having been knocked in the head and killed, his arms and legs cut
off and the trunk halfway buried in a negro graveyard. Lynching being feared the pair was
brought to Jackson for safekeeping and are here yet awaiting the coming of the strong arm of the
law.”-Age-Herald, 1/10/1922.

“Forest had a double hanging today. Pattie Perdue and Leon Viverett, negroes, paid the
penalty for their crime by being hanged in the jail today, shortly after 11 o’clock. Governor
Russell, acting on recommedations of the pardoning board, refused to commute their sentences,
and Sheriff Mize and Deoputy Robertson had everything in readiness for the double execution.
Pattie, who was hanged first, protested her inocence and marched up on the death trap with a
prayer on her lips. Viverett was anxious for the hour of his execution to arrive and was a willing
subject. Only a few persons witnessed the hangings. Besides the sheriff and regular deputy, a few
deputized persons, two physicians, a minister and the brothers of the murdered man were
admitted. The laws of Missippi requsire the hanging of criminals to be done in private.

“Pattie Perdue and Leon Viverett were convicted of the murder of Alton Page, a white
man, last August. According to the evidence, they killed Page and hacked his body into pieces
and burned as much of it as possible in a stove, then took the remnants to a negro cemetery and
opened a grave and interred them. There were threats of lynching at the time.

“They were tried at a special term of the circuit court of Scott County, convicted and
sentenced to hang on Friday, November 4, 1921. A few days before the execution a petitition
was circulated here by R. L. Bullard, a well-known attorney of Hattiesburg, and upon this petition
a reprieve was granted the negroes by Governor Russell, who ordered them brought to Jackson
for safekeepsing until the pardoning board convened in January. That body affirmed the sentence
of the circuit court last Saturday and the negroes paid the penalty of death today for their crime.”-
News-Register, Forest, MS, 1/13/1922 (1/6).


4

\
'

FLOwWUL, Pattie

and V1IVa

LOUBLE EXECUTION TODAY
TWO NEGROES HANGED

Forest had a double banging today.
Pattie Perdue and Leon Viverett,
Negroes, paid the penalty for’ their
crime by being hanged in the jail to-
day, shortly af.er 11 o'clock. Governor
Russell, acting on recommendations
of the pardoning. board, refused .te
commute their sentences, and Sheriff

Mize. and Deputy Robertson had ev-

erything in readiness for the: double
execution. Pattie, who was hanged
first, protested. her innecencg and

marched Up on the death trap with a
prayer: on her lips. Viverett was anz-
ious fdr the hour of bis execution! to
arrive and was a

sora? Wor pil pecans, at ner fe

thé: that bepthiers of the murdered!’ nis
The laws of

soil fie the, hanging, of pews

RETT, Reon, blacks,

hanged Fore st, Mo
nuary 13, 1922...

‘Pattie Perdve- and: Leen Viverette
were’ convieted of the murder of

Page,’ 3 ‘white man last August. .
| tha evidence: they | killed
Page’ ‘and ‘Hacked his body into!
and burned as much of it as possible
iia ‘stove, then took the remnants: to
a’ negro cemetery and opened a.grave
und interred them. There were ——
of lynching at the time.
_ They were tried at » special term
of the circuit court of Scott county,
convicted and sentenced to hang oD
Friday, November 4, 1921. A few
days ‘before the execution a petition
was circtlated here by R. L. Bullard,
a well-known attorney of Hattiesburg,
and upon this. petition a ‘reprieve wa
granted the negrces by Governor Rus-
sell, who ordered them brought to
Jackson for safe keeping until the
pardoning board convened in January
That -body affirmed the senten¢e ~ of
the circuit court’ last Saturday and
the negroes paid the penalty of;death
today for their crime.

Wéws-ECISTE we,
Joel, Ay =


: ee vas ov ne 1 n the
Laucerdale County’ until >} é ly lst, 1949, and on th
within the county fail of Lauderdale County or at such other
within the county Ja af
convenient »lace as the Board of ounervisors of Lauderdale County
p . ‘ afl i334 Puster) Patt be y the duly
may Cesienate, .e ne said Eddie (Buster) Patton by J

actins verson for that Nuroose,

in the manner and form as Mrescribed by statute, by

passed throuch the bocy of the sai Hdcie (Buster) Pat-
>)
ton a current or currents of elect
. . . : Clos :
and so continuing until he i- CHae des It is further o?
4

+ ae age pace
adjudged that the County of Laucerdale do pay the costs of this

3

‘ 19.4,9., the same being a day of

the regular term of our SUPREME COURT, begun and held in the Court room, in the Capitol, in the City of Jackson,

in said State, on the...2md__.... Monday of gen x Ax » in the year of our Lord, 19.4.9, the following

was rendered by our SUPREME COURT, to-wit:

This cause this day came on to be heard on the Motion to Fix a New Date
for the Execution of the defendant, Eddie (Buster) Patton, and this
court having sufficiently examined and considered the same and

been made to adpear to the Court that this cause was affirn

COUFT at:-g
Ecdie (2u
for the eo
court fix

©

Tern therec affirning a conviction of ’
ircuit Court of L cy,Mississinpgy
trocution, and this

30 by

2 ct (+
ct

anc the is hereby Sustained, It is
d end adjucged that the Jefendant, Edcie (Buster) Patton
vine of nurder he Safely kept in the Count:; jail of
until Thursday, January 12th, 1950, and on thet date
Jail of Laucerdale County, or at such other convenient
of Supervisors of Lauderdale County may desirnate, he,
er) Patton, he by the duly ane lerally constituted
Purnose, clectrocuted in the manner and form as %rescribed
S§ to vass throuch the decy of the said Hddie (Buster)
or currents of electricity of such sufficient intensity,
fy until is dead eead, It is further ordered and
County of Lauderdale do Day the costs oF this anpeal

’
t of July, 1949;
thereunon wa ed court overruled
and ie ter) Patton orosecuted an ay
d which court, Pay
rari-on s x
ne h ate of the Suvrene court of
2s ha the Clerk of this and culy
x th da date of
z= bee a appeal to the Suprene Court of
: aq States hag t court now has Jurisciction
Atte anc th is fi a lotion to fix a new date
‘ xecution of (Bus ) Patton, it is orcered and
1a ie san
a d

QQ,

&

2ADAQD
oO
we

‘7
wD” oO

ct

to be te


THE ADVOCATE, Gainesville, Mississippi, March 28, 1846
page two, column 1

THE ADVOCATE... nachiuery,
POP Rg a eee To. «TROP to return. for repair: Steven-|
json. and negroes remained on

GAINESVILLE, MISSISSIPPI,
SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 1346.
Spey Ey

--— ———

A a

TONY AND PETER.

These negroes, Whose escape,

mentioned in ‘our last, arrived
here on Wednesday, by the steam-
boat Mad Anthony, in the custo-
dy of Mr. Russ, Sherif of thle
county, - | |

They were arrested by -the ae
lice of New Orleans, and with

them, we are sorry to state, R.

G.; ‘Stevenson, a well known Citi- |)
zen of this county, and one who,
80 far, has enjoyed the reputation:

of an honest and ‘honorable man.
‘Stey euson stated that the negroes
belonged to him ycalled them Tom
and Harry, and that he had pur-

chased them atia public sale. His|
object, as it seems by what the

hegroes say, and from circumstan-
ces, was to ke them up the Mis-
-sissippi and there dispose of them
to best ad vantage. But a fatality
attended every step he took in
this abominable transation. He
was seen in a boat with the two
negroes “en West Pearl and re-
cognised. ‘The steamboat in which
they were to leave New Orleans,
‘proceeded a ‘short distance up the

tiver, .when ‘some, accident hap-

iwere purchased from the Strahan
_-jestate, and were not Tony and

from the prison of Shieldsboro’, |COUntY Were in New Orleans how-

while under’ sentence of death, wis ever, and identified them.

||charge of the negroes. ‘T hey. were

pened to the machinery, causing

board, and were on the following
day arrested.

At first every thing was denied,
the officers were told that they
‘must be mistaken, (he negroes

Peter.” Several citizens of this

Mr. Rss arrived im Ned Or.

leans’ from Jackson, | ‘and took

on Thursday last taken to Shields-
{|borough, where they will be exe-
cuted on the 20th inst. .. We have
not been able to learn what ‘re-
spectable citizen’ furnished them
the tools with which they filed
their irons, Some one’s name was
mentioned by the negroes, but as
this, so far\is not corroborated by
circumstances, we shall: be silent.
Stevenson js in ‘durance vile’
New Orlegns, where he will re-!
main till a requisition for him is|
forwarded by our Governor. 1
he be guilty—and we see no rea-'
son for |
|

oubt—certainly bis pun-
ishment Stould be severe; for we
conceive the man capable of such
a crime, dangerous to the commu-
nity and as morally guilty as those
whom he attempted to rob justice
of,

PAGE: TWO, COLUMNS ONE & TWO


ee eB Nw Ne Oe we |

7

wma eee

&? The two negroes, Peter and)

, T ony, who. were sentenced to be

hung’ at the | st term of the Cir-

cuit Court, were executed on the
20th instant. a ae, |

THE ADVOCATE, Gainesville, Mississippi,
April 25, 1846 (2:1-2)


16 SOUTHERN -2nd=- 630 (See for some details of crime.)
PHILLIPS, L. Pe, li7, electrocuted Prentiss, Mississippi, May 5, 19h).

"The governor's office said Thursday that Governor Bailey will not delay further the executio
of Le Pe Phillips, scheduled to die Friday in the state's portable electric chair, Phillips
had been given two 30-day HAXAXX#XXKAXAXIMH stays of execution to allow the g@# chief executiv
time to study lengthy records in the case, Phillips was convicted of the imrder of De. J.
Broome, an elderly farmer, in Jefferson Davis County." DAILY NEWS, Jackson, Mississippi,

MAKXKFXIRAE 5-5-19)), ( 3/8.)

"Le Pe Phillips, convicted of the murder of an elderly farmer-recluse in Jefferson Davis
county, was executed at Prentiss Friday in the state's portable electric chair, Chancery
Clerk Clifford Bass announced. Phillips, 7, was convicted of slaying 8h-year-old D. J.
Broome near Bassfield and the burning of the elderly farmer's home, Bass said Phillips
was strapped in the chair at 12:3) aem. (CWT) and was AKAMMHMAAE pronounced dead seven
minutes later. A sister and an uncle claimed the body. Phillips execution previously had
been stayed twice by executive order." DAILY NEWS, Jackson, Misse, 5-5-19h) (1/2.)

"Fov. Thomas Le Bailwy made no decision Tuesday in the case of L. Pe. Phillips, convicted of
murder in Jefferson Davis County and sentenced to death, The Governor held a hearing og the
matter this morning. He had previously granted Phillips a second 30-day stay of execution
in order to study the records in the case which he said are lengthy. Phillips was con-
victed of the murder of D. J. Broome, 8h-year-old farmer, and was originally sentenced to
die March 28,"

DAILY NEWS, Jackson, Miss.e, May 3, 194 (10-6

E E.
"L. P. PHILLIPS SENTENCED TO DIE ON MARCH shige Prentiss, Jan, 28, 193. = For the murder of
Je De ‘Uncle Doc! Broom, the Jeff Davis Circuit court jury today returned a verdict of
guilty against Le Pe Phillips, ex-convict. Judge Shivers sentenced the killer to die in
the electric chair on March l). The verdict of guilty was returned at 10:30 this morning
after the jury took the case at 8:00 o'clock Wednesday night. The prosecution based its
case on the written statement by the defendant while he was being held in the Marion county
jail at Columbus, Although Phillips did not take the defense, his sister-in-law, Mrs.
George Ward, took the stand and testified that the ex-convict @as at their boarding house
the hour the murder was alleged to have occurred during the night of November 23, 192.
Sheriff A. Ge Magee stated today that Phillips had a long list of crimes, The l2«year-old
AZAZWXH man, unknown here where he applied for work on a Jeff Davis farm six months ago,
had served time in the Louisiana State Penitentiary and a few days before he secured the
job. He had been convicted of grand larceny, robbery and on several other counts, Sheriff
Magee said, Broom, an 80year-old recluse, was killed with an axe allegedly used by
Phillips and the elder man's house was burned down on him. John Loveless, 50-year-old
farmer, was given life in prison as an accomplice with Phillips. ite was sentenced last
Saturday when the jury found him guilty but was unable to decide on the punishment." CLARI«
ON-LEDGER, Jackson, MS, 12291943 (1th.)

TRIAL
"STATE EXPECTED TO CLOSE MURDER CASE EVIDENCE TODAY. = TESTIMONY HEARD ON MURDER CHARGE
AGAINST PHILLIPS. « Prentiss, Jane 26, 193. = The state ie expected to close its evidence
Wednesday in the trial of L. P. Phillips, who is charged jointly with the murder of ‘Uncle
Doc! Broom, following evidence today and yesterday which centered around showing the
burning of his home, and human bones, keys and knife that were found among the remainse
Statements of Phillips before officers are to the effect that Phillips and John Lovelace
visited Broom on Sunday, November 15, and again on Sunday, November 22, they appeared at
his house, According to the statements, 'Uncle' Doc' invited them in and as he sat down,
Phillips struck him on the back of the head with an axe, which he picked up in the yard,
and then they searched him and the house for money, putting lighted splinters in the bed,
Judge J. C. Shivers heard these statements an a preliminary examination and admitted them
to the jury. The state is represented by Districh Attorney Bebe Dale, assisted by Judge

We He Li t
ted We Ju Hetenet CHART ONCLEBERS Peck son Mast Eben FESR Ber aytommeye are Claude Conner


- . ‘ i I, a < tr ha an

3 1 ; pee - . 4 be oii y at a 4/2 /1 ca

C4 wiles Du DUIN 34) dy blé CK, Naneea bay ot. LOULS g ve ie t/ €O Joy
de ae dete te od al m — weet!

’ if

NEITHER GUILT NOR”
INNOCENCE IS CLAIMED ~
BY RICHARDSON

Bay St. Louis Negro is Hanged at Bay St. Louis Friday for
The Murder of John Dambtino—Goes to His Death

Calmly—Prays As He |Stands on Scafford.

SR mente oceania een enefpernasn-rpranremne ee
|

| The first hanging in twenty years
hook place in Bay St. Louis at the
flancesk County jail Friday morning -
hen Silas Richardson was hanged at
10:15 and at 10:29 was declared dead
nd was removed from the hangman’s
not at 10:35. He was executed asa
‘esult of the sentence passed upon
lim by the circuit court, sustained by
he State Supreme court, for the mur-
ler August 14 of John Dambrino,
‘hom he shot at the city jail, wound-
ng at the same time Chief of Police
Mark Oliver of Bay St. Louis.
. A crowd of approximately half a
thousand people gathered around the
ail before 10 o'clock, but only about
$9 consisting of Hancock County of-
ne physicians, members of the

& lergy, press representatives and city
C3 nd county police authorities of
Sea aad GHo , | heighboring towns were permitted
Weis Ay, inside the jail corriders where they

wv r, fd Cdy\ dould witness the execution,
a , | Sheriff J. C. Jones sprang the trap
CH /F2: 7 that sent Richardson's body dangling
Ni ax43, at the end of the rope after Deputy

Sheriff Lander Neeaise and Lemuel

Miller assisted by Tom Mallini. had
/ lp . 7 tied his hands and feet) and placed
| dver his head the black cap.

——_—oo

1 Hie neaek whe trravt VWorevde anor rvbrveaa_

{ His neck was not uke
clang said, and his eslioatone
@d by strangulation. Dr. C. M. Shi
county health officer, assisted by Dre.
. L. Horton, N. W. Fountain, D. H.
ard, and W .S. Speer made the ex.

nination and pr
{sb n dead 14 tinutee: ates Richard-

ysi-
duc-

ver to relati
ih ie a of the deceased for

‘Richardson walked to the gallows,
and caiculated

1.thelgallows. He had

PEN ks iN spent

Pe ase ony and read
Friday morning in: com

h Rey, Fahey and Rev. John’. ord

TOsupUe priest Of Bi: Aueeees

Augustine

ined ed s after the t :
as sprung: The body was- tummentt

‘ Richarson’s execution was the first
legal hanging in Hancock county in’
20 years, the last having been in 1909
a négto, Jospeh Douglas. — At that
time Albert J. Carver was sheriff.
Other prisoners in the county jail
were taken from their cells and car-
ried to’the jail yard under guard a
faw minutes before the execution of
Richardson and were returned after
his body was removed. ;
‘Dambrino, the victim of a bullet
from Richardson’s pistol had gone to
the city jail at Bay St. Louis on Aug-
ust 14 in company with Police Officer
Mark Oliver to obtain from Richard-
son an automobile key, it was believ-
ed he had in his possession and be-
lohging to a car that had been stolen.
Richardson resisted the officer’s
search and opened fire upon him
weunding him and killing Dambrino..
Fdllowing the shooting he escaped
and after a man hunt of several
weeks in which hundreds of citizens
joined with county officers was cap-
tured underneath the house of rela-
tives at Bay St. Louis. He was con-
vi¢ted in circuit court, the state su-
preme court affirmed the conviction
fat death sentence and later over-
hee a suggestion of error. An un-

sutcessful attempt was made Thurs-
day before the hanging by Jackson
attorneys for Richardson to get Gov-

er

ng

Cy
es
at

whe, hee as

RHODES, Albert, black, hanged Indianola, Sunflower Co., November 2, 1906.

“Al Rhodes, Negro, Hanged For Murder At Indianola.
“Indianola, Nov. 2.-Al Rhodes, a 21-year-old negro, who murdered Thomas Sexton, an

aged fisherman on the Sunflower River, this county, last summer, was hanged here today.”-
Daily Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS, 11/3/1906 (1/1).

Dai ly Clarion-

Led ger
Cikokéon “Hive .)

Novemberc 2, lLQO4L
pe ly Scol. |


2sn’t mean

ES

1e in, nod-

hing else,
Remember
upposed to

“What of

may not. 3

' the suspect was taken ‘to Memphis on

December 18th. The Memphis Police De-
partment is—justifiably—a renowned

A one. Yet, the best investigators of the ©

4 Memphis force were unable to shake the
4 thirty-nine-year-old arrested man.

4 fore and the day after the murder, he ©

nds. Maybe

fact. Any-
c’s brothers
beating up

agreed Mc-
> We'll talk
tely?””
‘there’s sev-
y saw him*
y before the
ho say they
ry after the

ately sound-
f Memphis,
quarters for
ind mysteri-
-ried the de-

an to every

d county in
ir assistance.
zh in Cleve-

nphis, had a
sullet found
eavor to link
lings.

puty Sheriff
ly to locate
y the blood-
sheap cotton
‘ps, a lead as

double mur-
nd his, wife
the limbo of

Sheriff Steve
y, Louisiana,
who said his
McLean, in-
y left Cleve-
f Norris took
ell where the
i incommuni-
k at him and

. “We're go-
ctle ralking—

ily manacled,

Ps

hie
k

a

ee

_ speaking,”

He claimed that he was in Shreveport,

up the gun . 4 Louisiana, thé day-of the double murder.

He claimed that, while he knew the Tur-
ners, his first knowledge of the crime.
came when he read of it in the news-
papers.

Told that witnesses had seen him in
Cleveland, Mississippi, both the day be-

said that they were making a mistake.

C’TEADFASTLY, he denied having had
anything whatever to do with the
crime.

“] am innocent,” he said. “Why should
J say I did it, when I didn’t?”

There the matter rested. December
drew to a close and a new year was born.
Rufus, still in custody in Memphis, as-
serted that he was innocent.

Once again, the double-murder at
Cleveland appeared slated for entry on
the “unsolved” blotter.

Sheriff McLean’s office now had some-
thing new to worry about. Residents of
Boliver county were phoning in at regu-
lar intervals to make indignant reports.
Always, these reports were the same.

McLean and Maddox sat in the office
one mid-January morning. The telephone
rang. McLean sighed wearily.

“There’s another one,” he said. He
took up the ’phone. “Sheriff McLean
he said. The receiver disk
crackled and squawked under the explo-
sion of protest coming over the wire.
“Yeah,” said McLean. “I'll be right out.”

McLean put down the *phone an
jammed his hat on his head. Maddox
grinned at him.

“The guy with the comfort-station
complex again?” he asked.

McLean nodded, headed out of the of-
fice.

“Yeah, See you later, Charlie.”

Charlie Maddox ran one hand over his

head and leaned back in his chair. He
knew what the call was. Residents of the
delta section were awaking to find the
sides of their unpainted homes disfigured
by bold scrawls. To make it worse, ‘the
writing on the sides of their houses was
obscene. Probably some kid, with a twist-
ed.sense of humor.
' The writing on the houses wasn’t all,
though. A couple of respectable Cleve-
land women had received anonymous let-
ters lately. The letters had a mild air of
threat and a strong air of obscenity. Mad-
dox hoped they’d catch the kid who was
responsible before long. People didn’t
like things like that.

And it was the same kid, all right. The
handwriting in the letters tallied perfect-
ly with that on the houses. :

Charlie Maddox was still thinking it

over when a visitor came in. He was T.

American Detective _

R. Rock, a Chattanooga, ‘Tennessee, and
Greenville, Mississippi, postal inspectot.

asked. £2

“The Post Office Department,” said
Rock, “‘is getting complaints. It seems a
lot of obscene and threatening letters
are going out of here. These letters. bear

4 Cleveland post mark, so I’m here to. -

look into it.” i

Maddox nodded. -

2 KNOW. Somebody’s been writing

the same kind of stuff all over the
sides of houses in this -bailiwick, too.
Same handwriting.”

“Got any leads?”

Maddox shook his head.

“Not a one, but I'd like to catch the
guy that’s been doing it. He’s running us
ragged.”

Postal Inspector Rock nodded.

“We've got to catch him. The Post
Office Department has a law to take care
of persons sending obscene letters
through the United States mail. I'll give
you every help I can. Indianapolis is up
in the air about...”

“Indianapolis?” interrupted Maddox.
“{ thought all this was local. A couple
of women around here got some letters.”

“J know,” said Rock, “but this isn’t
where the majority of these letters are
being received. Most of our complaints
have been received from Indianapolis,
Indiana, women. Indianapolis seems to
be flooded with these obscene letters. And
the funny part of it is that they all ar-

rive there at the residences of prominent '

and respectable women who never heard
of any town in this county. The letters
are postmarked “Cleveland” and, occa-
sionally, “Merigold.”
“Well, Pl be...” Maddox suddenly
sat forward. “Say,” he inquired, “this
thing works both ways. If these promi-
nent Indianapolis women don’t know
anyone in Cleveland, Mississippi, how
does anyone here know the names and
addresses of the Indiana women?”

“Know anyone in Cleveland,” asked

Rock, “who subscribes to an Indianap-
olis newspaper?”

“No, I don’t,” said Maddox. “But: I
get what you're driving at, You mean
somebody might be picking the names

and addresses of these women out of an .
society * col-

Indianapolis newspapet’s
umn.”

“Something like that,” the postal in-
spector admitted.

‘Well, we'll find out.” Maddox
grabbed the "phone. For several minutes
he talked to the local postoffice. Jubi-

lantly, he hung up. “I think we got the ,

boy we're looking for. We can knock
him off in half an hour. He calls every
morning at about the same time for his
mail. Usually, it’s an Indianapolis news-
paper. He’s the only one in Cleveland
gets mail from Indianapolis. Fellow by
the name of James H. Coyner.”
“Know him?”

“What can I do for, you?” Maddox .

71

“Never heard of him.” Maddox’s brow
creased. “And that’s funny, too. I know
everybody that’s been around here: very
Jong. Well, let’s go”
"The two men were at the door of the
office when the telephone rang. Maddox
went back to answer it. Suddenly he was
barking staccato “‘yesses” intd the trans-
mitter. He jammed the receiver on its
. prong at last. He yanked open a desk

-\ drawer. Grim of face, he turned to Postal

Inspector Rock.
“Packing a gun?” he inquired,
“Yes, said Rock.
- "That’s good,”: Maddox replied crisp-
_ly. He took his own gun and holster from
Ae desk drawer and strapped it on. “We
may need a gun. That call that just came
in was from a woman here in Cleveland.
Said she just got one of those dirty let-
ters. It began, “You are next.’ And the
uy that wrote it claims he’s the guy
that killed Aurelius Turner and his wife
Jast month.”

OR ten. tense minutes, Rock and
Maddox waited behind a closed door
in the Cleveland post office. They had ar-
ranged with the postmaster to signal
them when the man they were seeking—
James Coyner—came for his mail. Other
patrons entered, received their mail and
left. The minutes dragged on. Maddox,
disappointment in his face, shrugged.
“Maybe he won’t come in today,” he
whispered. ““That’s usually the way it
works when you're looking for a lad like
this.”
Inspector Rock, peering, at the street
door intently, was grinning.
“Look at this big drink of water,” he
whispered. back.

Maddox looked. He saw what appeared '

to be a typical delta Negro. Shabby cap
over a black, big-lipped face. Blue jacket
of coarse material over a light work shirt,
fastened at the collar with a safety pin.
Dungarees and number twelve shoes.

But there were two things about this
Negro that made him a stand-out in
Maddox’s eyes. One was the fact that
the man’s dusky face was unfamiliar.

The other was his astounding height.
Fully six feet four inches, Maddox esti-
mated mentally.

The Negro had the door open and was
coming in. Instinctively, as he passed
through the doorway, he ducked his
heid. He shut the door behind him,
turned and headed toward the mail win-
dow.

“That’s not a man, that’s a giant,”
Rock whispered.

But Maddox did not hear. His eyes
were on the postmaster. And the post-
master, catching Maddox’s eye, nodded
his head.

“Come on,” whispered Maddox.

Noiselessly, guns drawn, Rock and
Maddox shoved the door open and crossed
the lobby of the little post office. They
reached the side of the dusky stranger
before he was aware of what happened.

pea

22 | American Detective

Deputy Sheriff C. D.
Maddox, one of the
men who arrested Rob-
inson in the Turner
case.

(Right) The Bolivar
County jail. Upper por-
tion contains gallows.

house and made a preliminary
inspection of the victims.
They were brave men, but
the sight that met their
eyes left them pale and
trembling as they stepped
outside to interrogate neigh-
bors.

Turner’s head had been
beaten in and he had been
shot. Young Mrs. Turner had
been mutilated. The killer’s
knife had, virtually, disem- >
boweled her. Her stomach and
groins had been slashed open.
Portions of her lower body had

been carried away. Carefully placed on the bed beside
her was the undeveloped body of the child she would
have borne three months later.

Ominously silent, the grim-faced neighbors who had
seen what lay inside that horror house, could give no
helpful information.

No one had seen any strangers the night before. No
one had heard the shot that had killed Turner.

Sheriff McLean and Maddox went back into the house.
Distasteful as the job was, they inspected the bed on
which the dead woman lay. McLean’s hands, prying
beneath the woman’s body, touched something hard
and cold. He pulled it from beneath her.

It was a large brad hammer, stained with blood on its
sharp end,

“Here’s what they were beaten with, Charlie,” he
announced. He shook his head. ‘““We’ll never trace a
thing like this. We’ve got to do better.”

Maddox nodded dismally and left the room. He came
back a few minutes later. .

“Find anything?” the sheriff asked.

Maddox shrugged and held up a cotton workman’s
glove. It, too, was bloodstained.

“It was in the front room,” he said. “But it won’t
help us any. They sell these in every country store in
Mississippi.” :

McLean took it, examined it carefully.

“It’s a large size,” he said hopefully. He shook his
head, “But that still doesn’t prove anything.”

For a moment the two men were silent. Then McLean
spoke.


d on the bed beside
the child she would

1 neighbors who had
iouse, could give no

he night before. No
illed Turner.

t back into the house.
aspected the bed on
ean’s hands, prying
ned something hard
th her.

ied with blood on its

1 with, Charlie,” he
We'll never trace a
tter.”

‘t the room. He came

<ed.

a cotton workmay’s

> said. “But it won’t
ery country store in

refully.

efully. He shook his
anything.”

silent. Then McLean

Cannibal

“I don’t get this whole business, at all,” he admitted.
“Aurelius Turner may have had some enemies, bitter
enemies...”

McLean waved a hand at the hideously mutilated
woman on the bed.

“,.. but he never had any enemies ornery enough to

do a thing like that to Mrs. Turner. That’s carrying

revenge too far.”

“Maybe,” Maddox pondeted aloud, “it was robbery.”

Sheriff McLean shook his head.

“It wasn’t robbery. I know it wasn’t robbery.” He
pointed across the room to a trunk.

“See that trunk, Charlie. Well, it’s unlocked. Go take
a look in it.” .

Obediently, Deputy Sheriff Charles Maddox crossed
the room to the trunk. He opened it, pulled out the top
drawer.

“Well, I'll be damned,” he said.

Fully exposed, carelessly lying in the top drawer of
the trunk, was a stack of greenbacks—a thick stack.

“One hundred and thirty-six dollars,” supplied Mad-
dox tonelessly. “So we know it wasn’t robbery.”

They went out into the living room together. It was
Sheriff McLean who made the next find. He saw some-
thing, rounded and leaden, lying oni the floor in one cor-
ner of the room. He stooped down and picked it up.
When he straightened, rotating the tiny object between
his long fingers, his eyes were bright with excite-
ment.

“Now,” he said, “maybe we have got something to
work on.”

Mrs. Robinson, mother of
the giant ghoul, who told
authorities of her son’s

trouble in Indiana.

A trunk. be-
longing to Rob-
inson, . alias
Coyner. The
fiend hid part
of his loot here

Maddox looked at the leaden
pellet and whistled softly.

“The bullet that killed Tur-
ner. Looks like a thirty-
eight.”

“Right,” agreed the sheriff.

Attracted by the news of
the atrocity in the Turner
cottage, a tremendous
crowd had gathered out-
side. Several hundred per-
sons viewed the two bodies

of Turner and his wife be-
fore they were removed to

the undertaking parlors. The
men were grim-eyed; the wo-
men, pale. Feeling was running

(Continued on page 70)


+

70

There was, however, no danger. of the
lynching spirit finding an outlet at the
moment, for the case was a mystery.
There was no one to lynch.

Sheriff McLean realized that his de-
partment lacked the facilities possessed
by those of larger ‘cities. He called his
assistant.

“Charlie;” he said,.“‘we’ve got to have
help on this case. Finger-print men
might turn up something.” He juggled
the bullet in the palm of his hand. “‘Bal-
listics experts might find something. Will
Griffin will give us a lift. Put through a
call to him.”

Inspector William Griffin, Chief of
Detectives of the Memphis, Tennessee,
Police Department, and one of the best-
known and most respected peace officers
in the South, expressed himself eager to
proffer immediate.ajd. He sent Detective
Sergeant Morris Solomon and Detective
Roger Kennon by plane to the scene.

EANWHILE, McLean and Mad-
dox continued their investigation.
Walter Turner, brother of the slain man,
reached the scene of the double murder.
“Better not go inside, Walt,” Mc-
Lean advised gently. “Just give me all
the information you can. Charlie and I
don’t think it was robbery, but we want
to be sure. Did your brother have any
jewelry—trings, stuff like that?”
“He had a watch. Always wore it
Walter Turner described where his
murdered brother wore the watch.’ He
described the watch. McLean and Mad-
dox went inside. They searched every
pocket in the dead man’s clothing. They

in

did not find the watch. They searched:

every corner of the house. Still no trace
of the watch. They went outside again.
“J don’t understand it,” admitted
Sheriff McLean. “Your brother’s watch is
gone. But why would a robber who had
time to ransack the whole house steal a
watch and leave more than a hundred’
dollars in cash behisid? If robbery was
the motive, it don’t make sense.”
McLean and Maddox next visited the
Turner children. Jimmie, the two-year-
old child who ‘had suffered from expo-
sure, was too young to be of assistance.
Little Aurelius, Jr., however, had just
recovered consciousness and a physician,
expressing the belief that the child’s
wounds would not prove fatal, allowed
the two officers a moment to talk to him.
“Sonny,” McLean said, “a man came
to your house last night. He hit your

papa and mama with a hammer. He hit”

you with a hammer. Do you remember?”
The child’s eyes grew wide. He nod-
ded.

American Detective

Cannibal
(Continued from page 23)

“Do you know who the man was?”

The childish words came excitedly be- -

tween whimperings of pain.

“He was.a big man. A great big man.
And I’m goin’ to kill him ’cause he
killed my mama and daddy.”

“You’re sure he was a big man.”

“He was a big man,” the child re-
peated.

“Do you know his name?”

“\ZES.” The child’s answer came
weakly.’

Sheriff McLean leaned forward eager-
ly. He placed an ear close to the child’s
face.

“Tell me who the man was.”

Little Aurelius Turner, Jr., whispered
a name. The door opened and the doc-
tor came into the room.

“Better not talk too long, Sheriff,” he
said. “The child’s still suffering from
shock. He’s still a little dazed.”

McLean and Maddox went outside.
McLean shook his head.

“Doesn’t make sere, I’m afraid.” He
told his partner the name of the man
mentioned by the Turner boy. The man
whose name the boy had whispered was
a farmer, a white man und a close friend
of both Mr. and Mrs. Turner.

Detectives Solomon and Kennon of
the Memphis Police reached the Clarks-
dale airport that night and were driven
to the scene of the crime. District Attor-
ney Greek P, Rice and Chief of Police
T. B. Birdsong came from Clarksdale to
assist in the investigation.

Early in the morning of Tuesday, De-
cember 11th, Sheriff Ben Gildart, of
Greenville, arrested a man whom he
found, scratched and dishevelled. Mc-
Lean and District Attorney Rice—the
latter one of the most clever cross-exam-
iners in the South, returned him to Boli-
ver county for questioning.

The arrested man was the man whose
name the Turner child had whispered to
Sheriff McLean. It was definitely estab-
lished, however, that he had nothing to
do with the case. He had happened to be
one of the first persons seen by little
Aurelius when the child gained con-
sciousness.

. He provided an iron-clad alibi and was
released.

Memphis officers, who had made an’

investigation at the scene, reported back

_ that there were no strange finger-prints
in the: Turner home. They verified the.

caliber of the bullet. McLean took the
news philosophically.
“We're up against a killer who didn’t

~ Jeave clues behind him, Charlie,” he told

Maddox. “The glove and hammer. don’t
help. The best thing we've got is the

thirty-eight bullet. But it doesn’t mean
anything, either, until we dig up the gun
it fits.”

Maddox, who had just come in, nod-
ded.

“We may have something else,
though,” he announced. “Remember
Rufus, the fellow Turner is supposed to
have had trouble with?” .
“Yes,” admitted McLean. “What of
it?” ¢

“It may be a lead and it may not.

There’s a story going the rounds. Maybe
it’s just a story, maybe it’s a fact. Any-
way, the story is that Turner’s brothers
gave this chap a pretty good beating up
once.” .

“It’s worth looking into,” agreed Mc-
Lean. “Why not bring him in? We'll talk
to him. Anybody seen him lately?”

“Well,” drawled Maddox, “‘there’s sev-
eral witnesses who say they saw him’
around Cleveland here the day before the
murder and there’s several who say they
saw him in Cleveland the day after the
murder.”

N ALARM was immediately sound-
ed for Rufus. Out of Memphis,
which had become the headquarters for
investigation of the brutal and mysteri-
ous double murder, wires carried the de-
scription of the missing man to every
corner of the South.
. Officers. of every city and county in
the Tri-States proffered their assistance.
Feeling continued to run high in Cleve-
land.
Inspector Griffin, of Memphis, had a
ballistic expert check the ‘bullet found
at the crime scene in an endeavor to link

_ the murder gun to other killings.

Sheriff McLean and Deputy Sheriff
Maddox worked unceasingly to locate
someone who could identify the blood-
stained brad hammer and cheap cotton
glove and give them, perhaps, a lead as
to their owner.

Five days elapsed and the double mur-
der of Aurelius Turner and his. wife
seemed destined to slip into the limbo of
unsolved crimes.

Then, out of a clear sky, Sheriff Steve
C. Norris near Bossier City, Louisiana,
picked up a hitch-hiker who said his
name was “Beard.” Sheriff McLean, in-
formed of the arrest, hastily left Cleve-
land for Bossier City. Sheriff Norris took
him back to a county jail cell where the
arrested man was being held incommuni-
cado. McLean took one look at him and
grinned.

“Hello, Rufus,” he said. “We're go-
ing to Memphis and do a little talking—
and you’re coming along.”

In an automobile, heavily manacled,

the suspect was ¢
December 18th. T!
partment is—yust
one. Yet, the best
Memphis force we
thirty-nine-year-o

He claimed that
Louisiana, the day
He claimed that, +
ners, his first kn
came when he re
papers.

Told that wits
Cleveland, Mississ

fore and the day

said that they we!

TEADFASTL
anything wh
crime.
“Tam innocent
I say I did it, wh
There the ma
drew toa close a
Rufus, still in c
serted that he w:
Once again,
Cleveland appea
the “unsolved”
Sheriff McLea:
thing new to wi
Boliver county ¥
lar intervals to |
Always, these re
McLean and '
one mid-January
rang. McLean si
*There’s ano
took up the
_ speaking,” he
crackled and sq
sion of protest
“Yeah,” said Mc
McLean put
jammed his ha
grinned at him
“The guy »
complex again?
McLean nod:
fice.
“Yeah. See y
Charlie Mad
head and lean:
knew what the
delta section \
sides of their u
by bold scraw
writing on thi
obscene. Proba
ed.sense of hu
The writin;
though. A co.
land women h.
ters lately. Th
threat and a st
dox hoped the
responsible b:
like things lik
And it was
handwriting 1
ly with that o
Charlie Ma
over when a


66 Where I Was Born and Raised

a sexual relationship with him, and they were quite venial in
their attitude. The white man could give them finery, money
protection, and prestige. There were not, therefore, from his
point of view, any reasons for forbearing, and, human nature
being what it is, he did not forbear. The white man of the Delta
was merely writing his chapter in the long record of the white
race throughout the world wherever it has come in contact with
colored peoples of a simpler culture or weaker fiber.

It is none the less clear that the history of miscegenation in
the Delta is interwoven with dark threads of blood and grief
and pain. It is in startling contrast with the principles of the
white man’s religion which he shares with the Negro. It marks
a strange contradiction in his already contradictory relationship
with this race. The white man presses certain disabilities and
restrictions upon the Negro. The full-blooded Delta Negro, pro-
vided the restrictions are not too onerous and he is "piven a
chance to lead his own way of life, brushes them lightly aside
and goes gaily on. Half-breeds and quarter-breeds feel the dis-
abilities more sharply and are restive under them. Yet white
men have not hesitated to pour their blood into the veins of
Negroes and increase the number of those who suffer because
of that blood.

The great and inflexible taboo of sexual relationships in the
Delta is that there shall not be, under any circumstances what-
soever, a sexual relationship between a white woman and a
Negro. The inescapable punishment, when discovery is made, is
death. It does not matter that the woman gave consent. ical
years ago a white woman gave birth to a Negro child in a Delta
hospital. Within a few hours her brother had come in from the
country and tried to kill her, and the Negro had been quietly
lynched. He had offended an inflexible taboo of which he had
full knowledge and of whose penalty for offending he was aware.

Rape is a crime shockingly abhorrent to men all over the
world. The white man of the Delta, living among masses of
Negroes overwhelmingly superior in numbers and well armed,
fears them only in one respect. He does not fear bodily harm
to himself, nor an armed uprising en masse. There has never

me Rat EA aS NT Seine ee Sd Sts SENS STERN NE RENE

Sex Without Shackles 67

been such an uprising in the history of the Delta. He does,
however, fear sexual attacks upon his women.

You cannot rationalize a fear of this kind out of a man, nor
make it seem ridiculous in his eyes with structures of smooth
syllogisms. He is not comforted by the fact that crimes of this
kind are of infrequent occurrence, nor calmed by the thought
that the chances of a rape committed upon his womenfolk are
perhaps one in a million. His wife and daughters are not to
him mere figures in tables of averages. They are flesh and blood
whom he loves and cherishes, and he cannot ever be brought to
see that the ravished body of one dear to him represents merely
the haphazard workings of chance which the averages assert
will not occur again in a million times.

The planter or overseer away on distant acres from his isolated
home, the townsman absent from his house on some lonely street
of the outskirts of a town, simply does not feel secure unless his
womenfolk are protected in some manner in his absence. (Often
the protector may be a Negro.) These people live among great
masses of Negroes. They know that rapes and attempted rapes
have occurred. Why may they not occur again? And why may
not the victims the next time be in their own families?

Out of this fear, out of this horror at the sexual approach of a
Negro man to a white woman, out of this vague and gnawing
dread, grow lynchings and excesses against Negroes. The Delta
was recently the scene of such an attack upon a white woman.
The events which followed the commission of the crime, and the
capture and trial of the criminal, show clearly the conflicts
within the various strata of the white community, and the dis-
tortions and stresses which small groups of whites suffer in the
presence of masses of Negroes.

The little town of Cleveland, Mississippi, is one of the two
county seats of Bolivar County. Its population of about three
thousand persons is almost evenly divided between whites and
blacks, although within the county itself there are twenty-five
hundred Negroes for every one thousand whites, and in some
sections there are as many as fifty Negroes to one white person.
There are, indeed, as many Negroes in Bolivar County as in all


be "UREN pg A SO ei aM ll i Al ila a
ORT SNA MM ML SO Sings.

EL RI n

isl i _}

iss 3e5 LO 56
black, hanced Cleveland, MisSe,y -
ROBINSON » Alonzo, black,

DAVID L. COHN

Where I Was

| Born and Raised

Part One of this book was
published in‘1935 as
God Shakes Creation

The Riversive Press Cambridge

1948


68 Where I Was Born and Raised

of Massachusetts, although that state has a population of over
four millions and the county has only about eighty thousand.
ae patricia thousand are Negroes and eighteen thousand

These Negroes when gathered in groups are seen to be largely
full-blooded blacks, although here, as elsewhere, there is a all
leaven of mulattoes. They are, on the whole, poor, darkly ig-
norant, prey to magic and hoodoo doctors, unpredictable in con-
duct and temperament, and to the white man, however sym-
pathetic or sensitive, essentially unknowable. They are black
with squat noses and thick lips, shambling arms and low ae
heads, kinky of hair and frequently with a yellowish tinge in
the whites of their eyes. They still stand close to the parent
stock of Africa from which they sprang.

In the latter days of December, 1934, a family of whites com-
posed of father, mother, and young son, were ‘living in a little
house on the outskirts of Cleveland. They were simple and ob-
scure people, honest and industrious, awaiting now the joyful
coming of Christmas within a few days, and a new baby in the
spring. On an evening in December the father returned from
work and took his modest meal alone. His wife, in an advanced
state of pregnancy, lay in bed. His meal finished, he went in to
talk to her. Their little son was asleep. Then darkness.

In the morning, when the neighbors came, they found man
and woman dead, the boy’s head battered, though he was still
living. The man lay face downward stretched across the bed
a bullet hole in the back of his head and his eye torn out where
the bullet emerged. The woman’s body was dismembered. Her
brains, beaten out of her head, splattered a pillow-case. Scat-
tered about the room were portions of her intestines, uterus, and
vagina. Her abdomen yawned an empty hole. Great slabs of
flesh had been sliced from her legs and thighs. Blood stained
the floors, the walls, and bedclothing.

Horror and dread filled the little town. The ghoulish, un-
fathomably savage character of the crime gripped men’s minds
with a fearful fascination. Women were afraid to go into the
streets, and when they did were then irresistibly drawn to drive

Sex Without Shackles 69

past the little house where a man and a woman had been found

lying battered in their gore. Young children, fascinated by this
incredible terror in their midst, could think of nothing else. A
bond of sympathy for the victims and hatred for the criminal
enveloped the entire community. People in small towns live in
close communion, although they may not know one another. Up
and down the length of the Delta and across its breadth crept a
shudder of fear and horror. In Cleveland itself one question lay
like lead on the throats of every man and woman. Who would
be the next victim? Christmas came sorrowfully to the town.

Shortly after the victims had been buried, obscene letters were
received by white women in Cleveland, and similar letters by
white women in Indianapois, Indiana, postmarked at Cleveland,
Mississippi. Federal post-office inspectors then came into the
case. They learned that a local Negro, sharing a letter-box with
two other Negroes, subscribed to an Indianapolis newspaper.
One day the newspaper lay in the box and officers waited in the

ost-ofice. One of the men who shared the box came and took
his mail. Then the other came and, finding nothing for himself,
departed. In the afternoon a third Negro came, took the news-
paper, and was arrested.

It was quickly learned from the prisoner that he had been
born in Bolivar County and had left it eighteen years before to
live in Indiana and Michigan. He had but recently returned to
the Delta and was working as a farmhand on his mother’s little
piece of land about a mile from Cleveland. Convinced that they
had their man, the officers placed him in an automobile and
lodged him safely in jail at Jackson, 150 miles away, before any-
one in Cleveland realized that a suspect had been caught.

After a few days the prisoner made a complete confession be-
fore forty or more officials and newspaper men. He confessed
committing not only the crime in Cleveland, but also that he
had served a prison term in Michigan for robbing graves, and
had successfully committed the same crime in Indiana without
detection. He had lived in Indianapolis and obtained from the
newspapers of that city the names of prominent white women
to whom he had addressed obscene letters from Cleveland.

<o-aecey mE eRGenARENT NAN ST - ose tte

70 Where I Was Born and Raised

Immediately a loud outcry arose in Cleveland for the return
and trial of the criminal. Threats of lynching were heard on
many sides, particularly from the poor whites living in Bolivar
and adjoining counties as far as fifty miles away. It became in-
creasingly evident that the prisoner would be lynched unless
strong armed forces were present at his trial. The militia may
not be sent in such a case unless it is requested of the governor
by the sheriff of the county. He was not a candidate for re-elec-
tion, but the district attorney who must prosecute the criminal
had announced his intention to seek the office again. His chances
of election would be seriously impaired if he joined with the
sheriff in requesting troops. Many voters were would-be lynch-
ers. The district attorney none the less joined with the sheriff
in asking that the militia be sent to the trial. The faculty and
students of Delta State Teachers’ College situated in Cleveland
requested the sheriff to ask for troops. Churches, clubs, and in-
fluential citizens added their voices.

Governor Conner commanded the adjutant-general of the
Mississippi National Guard to order out enough men and equip-
ment to take the prisoner from Jackson to Cleveland, protect him
during the trial, and in the event of his conviction, return him
to Jackson for safe-keeping, pending his appeal or execution.

Nearly six hundred militiamen converged upon Jackson from
all parts of the state, care being taken to pick men from counties
remote from the scene of the crime. Guardsmen from Bolivar
County participated in the mobilization only to the extent of
acting as kitchen police. They took no part in guarding the
prisoner. An hour before the special train carrying the prisoner
and troops was to depart from Jackson, pedestrians and auto-
mobiles in the vicinity of the jail were kept moving, and the car
containing the prisoner moved to the railway station between
marching columns of bayonets in the hands of troops instructed
by their commander to “shoot to kill.”

The prisoner, heavily manacled, was placed for the night-
long ride in a baggage car surrounded by picked officers and
men. As the train moved across the state he aired his opinions
to them at great length; quoted from his favorite philosophers,

Sex Without Shackles 71

William James and Arthur Schopenhauer; discussed his theories
of fatalism; couched his thoughts in excellent concise English and
evinced little interest in his possible fate.

While the train was en route to Cleveland, the courthouse
where the trial was to be held had been converted by other
uardsmen into a fortress. It was surrounded completely by an
intricate barbed-wire entanglement. The streets immediately
adjacent to it were closed and barred to traffic. Machine-gun
nests built of sand-bags were erected in the grounds, and other
machine-guns were mounted in the windows and on the roofs
to sweep every approach. Morning found troops with rifles and
tear-gas guns thick on the lawn of the courthouse, swarming on
the steps outside and the stairs inside, guarding every passage
leading to and from the courtroom and the courtroom itself.
The jail where the prisoner was to be held bristled with rifles
and bayonets, and the passage along which he must pass to the
courthouse was lined both sides with heavily armed men. Here
were force and determination enough to overawe the strongest
mob.

At four o'clock in the morning, when Cleveland was asleep,
the prisoner arrived and was safely conveyed to the brightly
lighted militia-guarded jail. A few hours later crowds began to
descend on the town from all over the Delta, some to be ad-
mitted with passes to the courthouse, others to stand enviously
behind the barbed-wire entanglements, or to talk in little groups
on street corners near the scene of the trial.

In the crowd were many Negroes. They talked, laughed,
and watched with keen interest and proud eyes the goings and
comings of the guardsmen. They speculated on the destructive-
ness of their guns. “Nigger, ef I had me a swamp-injin like dat I
could sho raise me a ruckus,” said a tall, gangling black boy,
dancing with excitement. “Go head, man,” replied his com-
panion, pointing to a gas gun in the hands of a trooper, “I'd
druther have me one er dem Gatlin’ guns. They shoots clean
th’oo er oak tree and kéeps a-goin’.” “Lawd have mussy, what

ou reckon us gwine do settin’ up here in de mouf er dem smoke-
poles if dem white folks starts shootin’?” shrilly inquired a strip-


RICKS, Thurman, black, 26, hanged at Philadelphia, Mississippi, February 2, 193h.

'NESHOBA NEGRO IS CALM ON GALLOWS, = TAST KRMXMXXXGNXKOXNGRKRH ADMONITION TO wORTD IS TO
'CEASR SINNING's MAINTAINED ATIRI, - Philadelphia, Feb. 2. = Thurman Ricks, 26-year-old
negr@ died on the gallows here this morning for the murder of Noah Savell, l0-year-old
white farmer, who was killed on March 16, 1932. ‘While standing on the trap just before
his exedution, Ricks stated to Sheriff R, F, Haye-that he knew that under the law he had
no choice in the matter but to hang him, that he had no hard feelings and that he
wanted his execution to stand as an example for others, The trap was sprung at 10:))0
and seven minutes later he was pronounced dead by Dr. We Le Watkins. Ricks appeared
calm as he walked the few steps from his cell to the trap and said that he had made
peace with (Md the Lord, ‘and I'm going home toGod.! Ricks was brought to Philadelphia
Thursday afternoon from Jackson where he had been held in the Hinds county jail since
his K€ conviction last May. He ate no dinner yesterday, little supper last night and
this morning refused all offers for breakfast other than the regular jail fare, saying
that he was no better than the other prisoners, Last night Ricks was nervous and told
a CLARION-LEDGER reporter, 'It's hard to have to die on the gallows for protecting your
own life, but if it is the Lord's will that my time has come, I'm ready to go home to
Hime! Ricks! mother and father visited him in the jail here this morning and s pent
some time with him before he was led to his death, This was the second legal execution
in this county since 1856, when a negro slave was hanged here, The other was Rogers
Roberts, who was hanged by Sheriff Hays on October 28, 1932, for the brutal killing of
Miss Jerline McNeil, a white woman residing in the Beach Springs community. KidKex
Ricks! fatner claimed his HMAAKXARKKEXKMAXAXAXUKXAMXANAXARMAME body after the execu-
tion and arrangements were made to bury him at EXAM Carolina, in the western part of the
county, this afternoon." CLARION-LEDGER, Jackson, MS, Feb. 3, 193) (3/72)

"NEGRO WILL HANG BODAY. = PREPARATIONS COMPLETE FOR EXECUTION OF THURMAN RICKS AT PHITA=
NELPHIA, = Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 193). - Sheriff R, F. Hayes announced here tonight that
all perparations had been completed for the hanging of Thurman Ricks, negro, here to-
morrowe Sheriff Hays set the time of execution for as 'soon after 10 o'clock as possi-
ble,' The negro was brought back here late today under heavy guard from Jackson where he
had been confirmed in the Hinds County jail, Ricks was convicted at a special term of
court last May for the murder of Noah Savell, l\O-year-old farmer, Savell disappeared

on March 16 but his body was not found until April 2. The supreme court has affirmed
the negro's death sentence, The condemned man appeared slightly nervous tonight and

ate little supper. However, he declared he had 'made his peace with the Tord! and was
not afraid todie. Ricks still insists that he killed the white man in self defense and
does not deserve to hang." CLARION-LEDGER, Jackson, Mississippi, Feb. 2, 193); (1-7).

2 Thurman Ricks »

[poramm § Koko, for his crime * of Murder, be and he te. hereby

state. of Vis sstesippte! “Cones | 8 goin the Distriic

Vie: ne 2
, ‘ ene” fox the State, Cones até

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caer eg

8 pey ompanneled on & former day of thie court, whe.

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‘defendant, “thei fo Llewing wenaiot wom

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—igtate of Mississippi. 2 . | 2 wa:

=! we Bo

Meshoba Qeenty.. i. gen

ae Thurman Kicks, As Found en Page 509. Book 6 of dinate Boole

as kept in My Office,
Given Under My Hend and. BAO 2 of Office this pt aey of :

—

AiD. 1935.

me Appeal te the Supreme Court of ‘The State of Mseieaippls

we Further Certify that Tho Supreme Court hes Affirmed Pai r
Manoa te pe

dees Sheriff,of Keshoba County
| Given Under My nand and Seal Of oTf4

| A.D. 1954,
|


oof Connty. ets

have thie day execute

a the within a,
) the acta p88 Aree

cha ve further
the Within ster asc i
the. walls of the of taant 0 9
alli

ied wes ia.
Sia i oan

CATE, OF MISSISSIPPI.
iesHOBA, COUNTY

‘| GLEN JACKSON, CIRCUIT CLERK IN AND FOR
SAID SIATE AND COUNTY, HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THE
ABOVE AND FOREGOING iS A TRUE AND CORRECT
COPY:

GIVEN UNDER MY HAND AND SEAL OF oe,
THIS THE-2_——_DAY O


Richardson, William K. No race or age given. Tried for murder
of Charles J. Foster, Assessor of Taxes, in Woodville, Mississippi.
No verdict given.

Richmond Enguirer, Sat. 25 July 1846, p.1.

"Woodville, Mississippi, has been the scene of another horrid
murder. The Woodville Republican of the i1th says:-- ‘On
Tuesday avening last, our town was the scene of one of the most
horrible affairs that darken the records of crime. Charles J.
Foster, the Assessor of Taxes of this county, was taking down

the taxable property of Wm. K. Richardson, a young mechanic of
this county-- a native, we believe, of Dayton, Ohio. We chanced
to be present at the time. After completing the list, and going
through the regular routine of interrogation, which the law makes
the duty of the Assessor to propound all tax-payers, Mr. Foster
informed Mr. Richardson that it was necassary for him to swear or
affirm to the list he had rendéred in, Mr. R. who seemed very
petulent and somewhat agitated through the whole time, preemp-
torily declined swearing. Mr. Foster told him that he must swear,
or be double taxed-- that the law did not leave it diccretionary
with him, he was obliged to swear all tax-payers. The d_m lie
was given-- a Simultaneous rush was made, and quick as thought
Richardson gave the deadly blow. Foster made a pass at him after
wounded. We learn that there was an old grudge between them-- or
at least on the part of Richardson. Foster lived six minutes
after he was wounded.

Richardson was tried yesterday, before justices Codley and Gil-
dart, and bound over in the sum of $2000. The state had no defence
and had it not been for the slight difference of opinion in the
Court, it would have been a one sided business.'"

72

He had just turned from the window, a
rolled newspaper in one hand, when
Maddox jammed a six-shooter into the
big fellow’s ribs.

“Get-those hands up, fellow,” Maddox
snapped. “And keep. them up.”

Two huge hands shot towards the
ceiling. The newspaper the Negro had
been holding dropped to the floor and

rolled a short distance away.

HE Negro’s bright, alert cyes sur-

veyed the men who had guns on him.
Then, ‘lithe, ‘catlike, his hands high in
the air, he began to back away. He
circled as he backed away cautiously and
his eyes shot from side to side as he
sought some means of escape.

“Stand still,” barked Maddox.

The Negro continued to back away
with the dancing, short-stepped swift-
ness of a boxer in the ring. Closer and
closer he came to the door that led to the
street. He was a foot from the wall and
two feet from the door that led to free-
dom, when the deputy sheriff acted.
Raising up on his toes, Maddox let his left
fist fly from the hip. It was a clean blow
that smashed home under the Negro’s
left eye and sent him crashing into the
wall. He stood against the wall, breath-
ing hard, defeat in his dark eyes.

“That’s better,” said Maddox curtly.
“‘Now you behave, boy.” Inspector Rock
searched their prisoner. His first find
was a revolver.

It was of .38 caliber—the same caliber
as the’ gun that had snuffed out the life
of Aurelius Turner.

In the jacket pocket were chees let-
ters, addressed to women in Indianap-
olis. Later, when Rock and Maddox had
a chance to study their contents, they
were found to be obscene and threaten-
ing in, nature.

The next find was a pocket knife. It
opened to disclose a blade four inches
long. The blade had been filed down so.
that it formed a double-edged cutting
instrument of razor sharpness. The blade
had also been filed so that it was but a
fraction of an inch wide.

““What’s the idea of fixing a knife like
this?” Maddox demanded.

The giant Negro looked sallueks over
Maddox’s head. He did not answer.

It was the fourth find, however, which
was the most damning. An envelope in

the Negro’s hip pocket was found to con-'

tain a small piece of flesh, salted to pre-

serve it..Maddox suppressed an involun-

tary shudder as he recognized it.
It was human flesh.

The last bit of evidence found on the -

Negro was a watch. Walter Turner later

was to identify it positively as the watch

worn by his brother at the time of the
atrocity slayings.

Unobtrusively, Postal ane Rock
and Deputy Sheriff ‘Maddox took their
prisoner back to the Sheriff’s Office. Ar-
rangements were made to remove him,

American Detective

immediately, to the Greenwood jail for
safekeeping. ‘

The arrested man readily admitted
that his name was, James H. Coyner. He
insisted, however, that he was innocent
of any connection whatever with the
murder.of the Turners. He told the off-
cers who questioned him that he lived
two miles out of Cleveland with his par-
ents. He was thirty-nine years old.

Sheriff McLean and Maddox took a
run out to Coyner’s home. They found a
typical, wrinkled-faced colored woman
there. She wore a bandanna about her
head, gypsy eartings and a man’s coat.
She was Coyner’s mother.

N THE screen-enclosed porch of the

shanty in which they lived, she told
officers that her son’s right name was
Alonzo Robinson, that he was a good
boy and that he had just come home to
live with his mammy in June of 1934.

“Where was he before then?” McLean
demanded.

““He was away,” she replied evasively.

“Away?” McLean snapped. The sher-
iff took a chance shot. “You mean he
was in prison, don’t you?”

Mrs. Robinson nodded.

“So he’s an escaped con, eh?”

Black eyes flashed indignantly.

“He was a good boy. He got in a little
scrape and they put him in jail. He be-
haved and they let him out. If you don’t
believe me you can write to Indiana
and...” ;

“Indiana?” interrupted Maddox. “So
they had him locked up in Indiana?”

“Yes, sir. And you can write them and
find out for yourself.”

Maddox jerked a thumb to one side
of the porch.

“Sit down over there in the swing.
We'll want you to go along with us when
we leave. But first we want to look over
your house.”

It did not take them long to make
more significant discoveries. In one cor-
ner was a pair of huge, blood-stained
boots; in another was a shirt, stained
with blood. They found a trunk and
opened it. It yielded a package of 52 en-
velopes. Each of the envelopes, unad-
dressed, contained an obscene poison let-
ter similar to the three they had found
on Coyner’s person. Apparently, the
fiend killer wrote his letters long in ad-
vance of mailing them.

Wrapped in rags in the trunk were
more pieces of human flesh, salted and
cured.

One piece contained the marks of hu-
man teeth,

En route back to the Greenwood jail
with the old colored woman, Sheriff Mc-
Lean spoke,

“We've got to get that boy to the
‘mob proof’ jail at Jackson. He’s not safe
in Greenwood.”

Maddox nodded. No other words, on
the return trip, were spoken. Both off-
cers were occupied, each with his own
thoughts. Their thoughts were not pleas-
ant. The old lady sat in the back seat of
the car and sucked on a corncob pipe.

Coyner was taken to Hind County’s
“mob-proof” jail at Jackson and they
hada go at him. They questioned him
for hours. District Attorney Rice and
County Attorney Ed H. Green led the
questioning. They got nowhere. Coolly,
Coyner denied everything.

ees

atl

The home of Alonzo Robinson, where detectives found abundant evidence

of the ghoul’s ghastly crime.

Gr
SeSSiO
up hi

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said,
post.

A)
the «
he w
medi

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o one side

the swing.

th us when
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g to make
(n one cor-
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trunk and
e of 52 en-
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arks of bas

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Sheriff Mc-

boy to the
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.. Both offi-
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-e not pleas-
ack seat of
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id County’s
n and they
stioned him
y Rice and
-een led the
ere. Coolly,

idence

Green came out of the room, after a
session with the giant Negro and tossed
up his hands.

“We've got the man we want,” he
said, “but we might as well talk to a

post.”
Although Coyner admitted nothing,
the officials acted upon the belief that

he was the man they had sought. The im-

mediate release of Rufus was ordered.
Coyner’s arrest had come early on
Saturday, January 12th. At the end of
two days, doggedly silent, he had
youchsafed absolutely no information
about himself. The investigating officers,
however, were not idle in the meanwhile.

“THE name—Alonzo Robinson—had
~D. stuck in Sheriff McLean’s mind. He
checked back through old musty rec-
ords. He found that Robinson (or Coy-
ner) had been shot by a Cleveland farm-
er twenty-one years before for having
written an obscene letter to the farmer’s
wife.

Some time after that Coyner had
struck out for the Middle West. In In-
dianapolis, Coyner had run into more
trouble. He had been arrested by author-
ities there when he attempted to sell a
human body to some medical students.

It was found; upon investigation, that
he had robbed a grave to obtain the body
—that of a young woman.

The giant Negro ghoul had, accord-
ingly, been sentenced to serve ten years
in Indianapolis State Penitentiary.

At the time of this offense, Turner
had been living in a house in Ferndale,
Michigan. In February, 1927, some
months after Coyner had been sent to
the penitentiary, a family moved into
the house in Ferndale that he had lived
in. In one room of the house, they found
a trunk. Curious, they opened it. In
opening it, they disclosed a mystery even
more ghastly than the Turner atrocity.

Carefully wrapped in newspapers and
stuffed deep in the trunk were four hu-
man heads.

Clyde D. Underwood, then prosecutor

for the county in which Ferndale was lo-

cated, went to the penitentiary to ques-
tion Coyner. Coyner readily admitted
ownership of the trunk containing the
four gruesome heads and insisted that he
had robbed graves to obtain them. He
refused to say what graves he had robbed.

“Why did you steal them?” Under-
wood asked.

“J wanted the bones,” was Coynet’s
weird explanation.

A terrific grilling, during which Coy-
ner denied that he had murdered to ob-
tain the human heads, brought no fur-
ther information. The case was allowed
to lapse. Whether those four grim de-
capitated heads represented murder or
grave-robbing, was never solved.

In 1934 Coyner was paroled. He re-
turned to Mississippi and the home of his
mother, just outside Cleveland.

Hi
i
i=

Cong
ee

The Bolivar County Courthouse at Cleveland, Mississippi.

This, then, was the astounding news
learned by District Attorney Rice, Sher-
iff McLean and the other investigating
officers. It was easy to understand, now,
why they were making no progress in
obtaining a confession from this grim
monster who, they felt certain, had com-
mitted the double murder at the Turner
home. eee

Added to this was the fact that Coyner
was far above the average Mississippi
Negro in intelligence. He had a splendid

education and once had served with the’

Engineering Corps in the United States
Army.

HE officers of Bolivar and neighbor-

ing counties were pitted against one
of the most amazing characters in the
history of crime:

A giant. A fiend. A ghoul. And—re-
member that bit of flesh with teeth
marks—a carmnibal.

Chances of obtaining a confession, as
days of repeated and futile questioning
passed, seemed hopeless. But District At-
torney Rice is not a man easily defeated.
He questioned the cool;-sullen Negro re-
lentlessly. Then he turned him over to
Green, McLean, Maddox and to Sheriff
John W. Roberts and his deputy, Thorn-
ton Hale, of Hinds county.

But it was no go.

At 11:30 on the night of Wednesday,
January 16th—four long days after Coy-
ner’s arrest—the officers still were no-
where. Sheriff Roberts had played the

“sympathetic” role with the prisoner at |

all times. The others had not minded
talking roughly to him. Rice felt discour-
aged,

“He’s intelligent and he’s cunning.
Intelligent and cunning men have been
broken before. But it’s his abnormality
that’s holding him up. You can appeal
to the ordinary man’s sense of decency,
appeal to his natural love for his wife, his
sweetheart. You can get under his skin
and start him talking. But this bird...”
Rice shook hjs head. Then, suddenly, he

snapped his fingers. “Wait a minute, fel-
lows,” he said triumphantly. “I believe
[I’ve got it. I want to talk to Coyner
alone.”

ICE went back to the room that con-
tained the handcuffed Negro.

“Listen, Coyner,” he said, “we'll
waste no more time. I’ve got a few words
more to say to you. Then I’m going to
bed. We've got enough evidence to hang
you a dozen times. We've begged you for
a confession. We’re through with that.
To hell with a confession. If you want
your own mother to hang, that’s all right
with me.”

Rice turned to go. Coyner’s voice,
strangely hoarse, stopped him.

“What do you mean?”

“J mean this: We’ve got you dead to
rights. The letters, the watch, the knife,
the gun—and that piece of flesh from
Mrs. Turner. But don’t forget that there
were other pieces of flesh from Mrs.
Turner’s thighs in that trunk at your
mother’s home. Your mother’s home.
Get that? According to the law she’s in
this thing as deep as you are.,

“T’ve seen low men in my time;” Rice
concluded, “but this is the first time I
ever saw one that was willing to let his
own mother go to the gallows.”

Rice stalked out of the room. He left
the county jail and went to bed. At
five o’clock in the morning, the tele-
phone got him up. It was Sheriff Roberts
who had played the “sympathetic”. réle
during the days of grilling.

““Coyner’s confessed,” he said.

Rice hurried over to.the jail and was
closeted with the Negro.

“Did you kill Mr. and Mrs. Turner?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“J don’t know.”

“Why did you cut portions of flesh
from the woman’s body?”

The astounding answer was made
calmly.

“Oh, I took the skin to see how it felt.”


74

ICE pointed to the piece of flesh con-
taining the imprint of human teeth.

“Did you bite this piece of flesh?”

“Yes.”

“How did the murder happen?”

“J went to the house and went in the
front door,” Coyner replied. “I just had
an impulse to kill somebody. Mr. Turner
was sitting in a chair reading a newspa-
per. I hit him. Then I hit Mrs. Turner—
I don’t know how many times—about
five times. I shot Turner.”

“How about the child. You hit him,
too, didn’t you?”

“I guess so.” The astounding giant
fiend actually smiled. “I don’t remember
that, though. You see, I was sort of busy
at the time.”

“Then what.”

“J thought I’d cut the bodies up and
burn them, but I didn’t. I cut some flesh
from Mrs. Turner’s body and carried it
home in a gunny sack.” P

James H. Coyner, the most infamous
slayer of a decade, signed an eighty-page
formal confession. Mrs. Robinson, his
mother, was released.

Justice began to move swiftly. District
Attorney Rice already had exhumed the
bodies of the slain couple to compare the
flesh found at Coyner’s home with that
cut from Mrs. Turner’s body. His case
was complete.

Coyner remained in the “mob-proof”
county jail at Jackson. He was ostracized
by the frightened fellow prisoners of his
own race. They refused to cell with him.
The colored jail cook rebelled.

“No, sir,” the cook told Sheriff Rob-

American Detective

erts, “I ain’t goin’ in that black boy’s
cell. He eats flesh.”

One of Sheriff Roberts’ men had to
take Coyner his meals each day. Coyner
—the amazing enigma always—got into
a philosophcial discussion with Sheriff
Roberts.

“I read once that a man may use his
reason only for the purpose of being more
bestial than any beast. I guess that’s me.”

“Where did you read that,” Sheriff
Roberts inquired. .

‘In a book,” said Coyner, grinning,
“by a fellow named Goethe.”

O PERSISTENT were the demands of
curious spectators to view the giant
Coyner that Sheriff Roberts was obliged
tc let some of them enter the jail. Coyner
put up with the early visicors, then
turned his back on those who came. One
visitor—thus defeated—solved the prob-
lem by throwing a nickel into the cell.
Coyner got up from the cot on which
he’d been lying, back to'the cell door, to
retrieve it.

It became a profitable business as the
days wore on. Once Coyner arose, de--
ceived by the clink of a coin tossed in on
the cell floor, to find that someone had
thrown in a penny. He jumped back on
his bunk disgustedly. He was.not fooled
a second time. Nothing less than a nickel
would bring him off his cot.

The Grand Jury of the special term of
court, was to be held in Cleveland on
February 4th. The National Guard was
called out by the Governor at the request
of Judge W. A. Alcorn and Sheriff Mc-

Lean. Detachments from twelve units
of the Mississippi National Guard, num-
bering more than 600 troops, were or-
dered to Cleveland for the trial.

Barb:d wire entanglements were
stretched about the modern Cleveland
courthouse. Szndbags were thrown up.
The courthouse itself bristled with ma-
chine-gun nests. Four were located on the
roof of the building, others in various
strategic third-floor positions.

Adjutant-General Thomas J. Grayson,
oft-decorated hero of World War fame,
was in charge of the 600 picked men.
Every man was armed and carried tear
gas grenades.

HE night before, Coyner, had been

taken from the Jackson jail at 11.
P. M. and escorted by soldiers and police-
men to a barricaded all-steel mail and
baggage car. He was placed in the car,
guarded and shackled hand and foot.
The car was locked and sealed and hooked
to an engine.

The special train enjoyed the right-of -
way through Vicksburg, Greenville and
other stations along the Jackson-Cleve-
land route of the Yazoo and Mississippi
Valley Railroad. When it reached Jackson
—the end of a 151 mile journey—at
4 A. M. on February 4th, Coyner was
asleep.

Except for the brief nap he took just
before reaching Cleveland, Coyner had
regaled his guards, during most of the
long journey, with discussions of religion
and his views on lynching.

“A crime committed by a community

*.

The Tarner home, near Cleveland, Mississippi, where the crime that shocked the entire South

' : Peg ARIAS EDA SAP LPI HA EEO
ee — ie eieeeeaaaaeeaiall ei

took place on a night in December, 1934.

NO


76

is much greater than one committed by
an individual,” he said.

Awakened, upon reaching Cleveland,
Coyner was loaded into an army truck.
With guardsmen behind and in front of
the truck, he was driven through a lane
of troops a quarter of a mile long that ex-
tended from the railway station to the
courthouse jail. -He was placed in a cell
on the third floor. Two guards were sta-
tioned outside his cell.

FEW minutes later, the soldiers that

swarmed over the courthouse lawn .

were amazed to hear a deep resonant voice
singing, “Nobody Knows the Trouble
I’ve Seen.” :

James Coyner was greeting the rising
sun.

That morning he was indicted. At two
c’clock in the afternoon, Coyner was
brought into a little courtroom, packed
with curious spectators, to be arraigned.
He appeared almost jaunty in his cap
with the broken visor, his blue work
shirt, baggy trousers and huge, worn
shoes. He leaned carelessly on his elbows.
His elbows rested on the judge’s dais.

“Take off your cap, boy,” District

American Detective

Attorney Rice instructed him. Coyner
took off his cap.
Judge Alcorn looked gravely at the
towering prisoner before the bench.
“Have you a lawyer?” he asked.

OYNER’s face broke into a wide grin
before he replied.

“I’ve got an idea,” he said, “that a
lawyer’s not going to be necessary.”

“You're entitled to counsel,” Judge
Alcorn replied.

C. H. Crump and Hugh F, Causey,
Cleveland attorneys, were appointed to
defend the giant Coyner. Court recessed
to permit them to confer with him.

Sentries, bayonets fixed, stood at the
doors. All persons entering the court-
room were searched.

If ever a man was entitled to a lynch-
ing, James H. Coyner was that man.
Yet, the elaborate precautions taken to
prevent a lynching in this case, seemed
totally unnecessary, Let it be said to the
everlasting credit of Mississippi that that
great Southern State seemed to feel that
its splendid peace officers—everyone of
them who worked so swiftly and intelli-
gently on the Turner case—had con-

5
comes aaah ae

structed an air-tight case against Coyner
which would take him swiftly to the gal-
lows. These loyal Mississippians, out-
raged as they must have been by the
atrocious double murder, were perfectly
orderly at all times. They seemed to feel
that rash action now would be a be-
trayal of the men already mentioned ia
this story, who had worked so hard and
so successfully to make justice possible.

OLLOWING the court recess, a jury

was quickly empanelled. The trial got
under way with District Attorney Rice,
County Attorney Green and Attorney
John T. Smith representing the prosecu-
tion. The State used seven witnesses, the
defense none.

The jury went out with the case that
same afternoon,

Five minutes later, they were back.

The verdict was: “Guilty.”

Coyner was sentenced to hang. As this
is written, he has a few days of life left
to him. Barring the unlikely event of an
appeal, James H: Coyner, the most hid-
eous fiend in the crime history of Missis-
sippi, will have gone to his death at the
end of a rope before you read this.

cane cama ant

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a 551 Fifth Avenue
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CEEOL EE AOE, LEE CHAE AEH ELE LL I ATLL SUE LEE. TS LIE AB LIE SEBO PEA ALLE MAS GILEAD GIT EG ite

76 Where I Was Born and Raised

James Coyner, the only Negro in a crowd of twelve hundred
whites, sat unconcerned, bored or half asleep. He asked once
to go to the toilet, and was led out and brought back by a squad
of soldiers. That apparently was his only contact with the world
around him. His intelligent and rather sensitive face remained
buried most of the time in his huge hands as he walked dream-
ways remote from this courthouse in Bolivar County where he
had been born and was so soon to die.

In the courtroom a strange game was being played according
to archaic rules laid down long ago in England, still expressed
in stilted English and Anglicized Latin. The judge, a middle-
aged graying mammal, sat upon a platform peering out of his
skullcase with bespectacled eyes at other mammals, the lawyers.
They stood upright, in contradistinction to the generality of the
animal kingdom, clothed in the wool of sheep and the fiber of
cotton. Their eyes looked out of bony sockets at the twelve skull-
cases and twenty-four eyes which sat in the jury-box; at the
twelve hundred skullcases in the audience, some of which, by
their thick-piled hair, one knew to be the heads of women. The
judge leaned over. The lawyers whispered to him. He seemed
to be quietly admonishing children. The heads separated and
seated themselves on opposite sides of a long table.

Someone had died. Someone had indeed been brought to his
death. Whence had come the bringer of death? Eyes sought
him out in the courtroom. F ingers sliding along the leaves of
lawbooks groped for him. Why had that man living in his little
house awaiting Christmas and his new baby been chosen to die
without even the garlands of a sacrificial bull about him? Where
is he now? Where has he gone? What is death?

Do you know, omniscient Judge, sitting high above the heads
of men in your wide-backed chair? Do you know, Mr. District
Attorney, who seem so familiar with death that you talk about it
constantly? Surely you can tell us, Mr. Attorney for the Defense,
for it is plain that if you defend one against something you must
know the face and nature of the thing against which you inter-
pose your learning and your strength? Or it may be that you

will enlighten us, Young Guardsman, standing there with your

Sex Without Shackles 77

bayoneted rifle? You are young. The down of youth is on your
cheeks. Your mother is worried that you are in peril far from
her side. Long ago it was written: Out of the mouths of babes
shall come wisdom. But you won't tell us. You lean silent on
your long rifle, gazing into the yard below where your fellows
are making the flames of bonfires leap ever higher with fresh-
piled fagots.

James Coyner, a ginger-colored giant, sits at the table, half
asleep, his immense strength in repose, his huge hands folded
upon his knees. Then perhaps it is he who is to die, he of the
more than thousand persons in the room? He about whose brown
throat a hempen rope will be drawn and stretched tighter and
tighter by the weight of his dangling body until his windpipe
sputters and rattles, his dry lips fleck with bubbly foam, and his
vertebrae, ingeniously made, are twisted and broken.

Yet at this very moment the beating of his heart floods the
veins of his body to overflowing, touches to color the tiny
capillaries of his toes, pours with sanguinary stream over the
soft pinkish tissues of his brain. This body began to die when
it was born, and all these years it has been dying to the unre-
mitting music of his heart. The judge there on the bench, James
Coyner, has a heart, too, and although he is white and free and
you are black and imprisoned, it races in his separate body
toward the grave even as your heart, and beats the separate
tattoo which is his dirge. You are shackled and he is as free as
a bird of the air, but he does not race more quickly than you
nor cover the ground with firmer stride or longer step. Soon,
James Coyner, you will draw away from him and his pale white
figure will recede into the mist. In a little while, a day, a week,
a month, some subtle chemistry will be made to work in your
body so that you will be catapulted into the intersteller spaces
and arrive at your dark destiny years ahead of him who now
sits high and triumphant above you in his wide-backed chair.

The long afternoon wears wearily on. Outside in the gather-
ing shadows guardsmejp begin to spread the dishes for their
evening meal on long wooden tables. Inside, the law goes
through its measured rhythm with, “I object, Your Honor,” and,


ee Te

62 EOLA EP EFT IEE EAMG OO LESS LE SOG REL AEE GEE ES, Rueemae eee

78 Where I Was Born and Raised

“Objection overruled,” and “Objection sustained.” In a world
irreverent of form the law goes its ceremonious stylized way.
There is no recess for dinner. Seven o'clock stands on the face
of the clock. Is it, I wonder, really seven o’clock? It is so puz-
zling. How is one to know? Men measure time with superb
impudence, but it is of their nature to thrust arrogantly at forces
that brought about their being and will inexorably encompass
their end. Yet even the magnificent egoists are confused, for if
it is indeed seven o'clock here in the Mississippi courtroom
where James Coyner is on trial for his life, I know that at this
moment Parisians are leaving the Opéra Comique at midnight,
having just heard Manon; Polynesians on Mangareva are awak-
ening to the tropical dawn; and the ship’s bells of a British tramp
in the Tasman Sea are tapping out the noon of tomorrow.

At fifteen minutes before eight the state rests. The prisoner
does not take the stand. The jury is addressed by the lawyers.
They receive the instructions of the court and march out. Twelve
gods in rumpled suits force their way through the crowd to the
jury-room. The crowd is hushed. James Coyner sleeps. On the
stroke of eight the jury returns. Deity, multi-headed, sits on
twelve chairs. “We, the jury, find the defendant guilty as
charged.”

The crowd remains silent. There is no demonstration. Egyp-
tian Thebes is vanished, but men still keep Books of the Dead.
Now another little entry is to be made in the crowded leaves.
The judge says, “James Coyner, stand up.” James stands six feet
four and the color of ginger. “Have you anything to say?” “No,
sir.” The judge resumes. “You have heard the verdict of the
jury. You have been represented by able counsel and have had
a fair trial. I now sentence you to be hanged by the neck until
you are dead on Tuesday, March the fifth, between the hours
specified by law. And may God Almighty in His infinite wisdom
have mercy upon your soul.”

The prisoner is returned to the jail. The crowd dissolves. The
courtroom is deserted. A mouse comes to nuzzle its soft gray nose
among the peanut-scented papers on the floor. In the railroad
yards a black locomotive coughs stertorously and backs down

Sex Without Shackles 79

upon a string of cars. James Coyner will soon be on his way to
Jackson, sitting manacled nightlong between rows of rifles, until
he shall be brought again to Cleveland and his body buried in
the rich earth of the Delta from which he sprang.

The sexual relations of Delta Negroes, particularly on the
plantations where the majority of them live, are marked by a
simplicity and naturalness which the white man cannot ever
acquire nor fully understand. He is a creature of conventions
and inhibitions. He must consider public opinion and the force
of the law. Marriage, the child, and the family are still the basic
units of the society in which he moves. His religion casts
shadows on Eros. If it be that he is natively as sexually vigorous
as the Negro, his vigor is lessened by the worries of one kind or
another that constantly assail him; it is debilitated by forebod-
ings and dark fears; it is weakened by inherited cautions of re-
straint, by circumlocutions of address and conflicts within his
mind.

The Negro, on the other hand, is sexually completely free and
untrammeled. “W’en I wants me a woman, I gits me a woman.”
To him the expressions and manifestations of sex are as simple
and as natural as the manifestations of nature in the wind and
the sun and the rain, in the cycles of the seasons and the rounds
of the growing crops. Sexual desire is an imperative need, raw
and crude and strong. It is to be satisfied when and wherever it
arises. It is not embroidered with the roses and raptures of
romantic love. It does not proceed tortuously through devious
détours of flirtation, but flies straight to its mark with the blind
compulsion and devouring intensity of a speeding bullet.

Many plantation Negroes think of sexual relationships as a
“po’ man’s delight.” “Cap'n,” a big black field hand told me as
he shook with laughter, “niggers is as good as white folks in two
places — in de bed and in de graveyard.” These Negroes, remote
from the moving-picture theaters of the towns, illiterate and ig-
norant so that they can only spell out the Bible and the mail-
order catalogues, with abundant leisure which they turn to no
use, regard sex as a Heaven-sent form of amusement.

. Upon the structure of the Negro’s own sexual freedom another


LE ARIE TON PUR ITED RAE LIGATED LIE ALLE MALLE ELE IES
=? : > AGS LH ett g te Oy

72 Where I Was Born and Raised

ling yellow girl who had suddenly abandoned the washtub to
come to this scene of carnival. “Dey ain’t studdin ’bout shootin’
nobody,” boomed the voice of a man next to her. “De President
told ’em not to lessen folks got too bad.”

The mere presence of Negroes at such a time was extraordi-
nary. Negroes usually remain indoors in the Delta when trials
of this kind are in progress, for fear that the crowd may over-
power the officers, lynch the prisoner, and inflict injuries upon
them. Now however, completely reassured by the presence of
troops, they were en féte, and the more business-like among
them did a thriving business selling soft drinks to the soldiers
and to the onlookers.

The Negroes were sure that the government at Washington
had sent troops to protect them as well as the prisoner. They
know that it was Lincoln who “sot ’em free,” that he once lived
in Washington and that ever since his day the white folks there
have been on the alert to help the Negro in times of stress. It
would have been difficult to make many of them believe that
the guardsmen had been sent to Cleveland at the request of
the officials of the local county. They could never have under-
stood that they were present not primarily to protect anyone, but
to uphold the processes of law and order of which the present
prisoner was merely the transient object. The Negroes’ belief
that the President of the United States had sent troops to Bolivar
County for their benefit was an unfortunate conclusion for them
to reach, given the conditions under which the two races live
in the Delta. It might lead them to think that the federal gov-
ernment was ready to spread its sheltering wings to protect them
in all their doings; they would then step out of the place to
which white domination had assigned them and inevitably pro-
duce a series of racial conflicts. It is part of the hopeless tragedy
of these utterly diverse peoples living in close juxtaposition, that
the white man’s effort to do the right thing is as likely to cause
trouble as his actual doing the wrong thing.

The majority of the crowd was composed of poor whites, or
as they are called in the Delta, “rednecks” or “peckerwoods.”
There is no love lost between them and the Negro. They stand

Sex Without Shackles 73

on the same economic level and are in direct competition as
croppers and laborers. Despite the fact that they are as ignorant
and as poor as Negroes and are looked down upon by landed
or propertied whites, they feel themselves, as white men, to be
immensely superior to the Negro. Their superiority is expressed
by hating and humiliating him as much as they can. The Negro
in turn hates the redneck and expresses his scorn of the whole
tribe with the contemptuous phrase, “Dey ain't nuthin’ but po’
white trash.”

The poor whites stood in groups outside the barbed wire,
looking out of pale-blue eyes glittering with hatred at the troops
who had cheated them of their prey. They wore faded blue
overalls covered sometimes by an old overcoat, and rubber boots
caked with wet mud. Stubbles of beard were on their faces,
blond heads bore dust-stained hats, their hands were gnarled
and dirty, their broken nails were rims of black at the extremities
of their fingers. Fanatically and narrowly religious, poor and
superstition-ridden, hating Negroes and whites of a better ciass,
they boiled with anger and impotence as they stood frustrated
by the force of steel before them.

I spoke with many of them about the trial. They spat in
disgust. Their sheriff had betrayed them by asking for the militia
when they could so handily have lynched “the nigger.” “He
couldn't git elected to dog-ketcher in this county no mo’.” I pon-
dered that statement. This, after all, is a democracy. The vote
of an idiot is as potent as that of a savant. They were outraged
by the expense of bringing the troops. A toothless old man, tin
of snuff in hand, interrupted his “dipping” to tell me, “I bet it
cost nigh onto twenty thousand dollar to pertect that black son
of a bitch, and if they'd ’a’ turned him over to us we'd ’a’ made
hash out of him in no time and it wouldn't ’a’ cost nuthin’ but a
piece of rope.”

Another said that “what it cost to pertect this danged nigger
who ain’t nuthin’ but a half-human varmint would ’a’ screened
ever’ share-cropper’s house in Bolivar County.” A man wearing
an old army overcoat informed me that “I spent two years in the
World’s War a-fightin’ them Germans what never done anything

PRO aay te

74 Where I Was Born and Raised

as bad as this nigger done sawin’ up people. A white man ain’t
a-goin’ to be able to live in this country if we let niggers start
gittin’ biggity. I wish thev’d lemme have him. Id es out his
black balls and th’ow ’em to the hawgs.” He meant it. Near by
stood three men debating. “If a fellow knowed whether they
got orders to shoot or not,” said one, “then he’d know what to
do. “They got them orders, all right,” said another. “I seen it
in the paper.” “Well, that might be,” said the first speaker, “but
they ain’t a-goin’ to shoot into this crowd where they’s women

and children. That ain’t constitutional and it’s agin’ the guver-

ment.”

They were certain that the display of force would convince

T x

the Negroes that the government of the United States would
protect them whatever they might do, and thus make them
uppity. One of them pointed to the machinegun nests and
rifles and said to me, “That’s what’s a-ruinin’ ’em and makin’
fools out of the niggers. Niggers air a-braggin’ on ever’ planta-
tion in this county that the guverment’s a-pertectin’ °em and we
gonna haf to kill a lot of the black bastards to knock some sense
into their kinky heads.”

Daylong they stood outside the courthouse, airing their griev-
ances to one another, shifting from foot to foot, walking wearily
about, talking to the guardsmen, trying to snatch news of the
progress of the trial. It was not until night fell and the trial
was ended that they left the scene. They went home mollified by
the verdict of the jury, but discontented because they had not
been permitted to torture the prisoner slowly to death and hack

‘his body to pieces.

In the jail the prisoner, James Coyner, sits unconcernedly
through the morning, and eats his lunch quietly at noon. He is
six feet four inches tall and of gigantic strength. He is dressed
in a blue overall coat, a blue workshirt open at the throat, rough
work trousers and heavy black shoes. His hands and feet am
huge. He has soft brown eyes, sharply defined features, and his
gentle countenance appears at times almost benign. He looks A
shepherd of men, one in whom complete trust could be fended:
a mild giant who would use his great strength but to shelter and

‘ Sex Without Shackles 15

protect. As he sits with folded hands and bowed head he is a
gargantuan ginger-bread man conjured up by the vision of a
child fairy-tale haunted.

He is asked if he has any regret for committing the crime.
“No,” he says, slowly, “no more than if I had spilled a glass of
milk. What’s done is done. What’s bothering me right now is
that this jailhouse is cold.”

Shortly after one o'clock in the afternoon the prisoner was led
into the courtroom between double rows of militiamen. Every
seat on the ground floor was taken by spectators. The balcony
was jammed with guardsmen. They stood, too, at the doors and
entrances, in the aisles, and occupied the entire row of seats
directly behind the prisoner. It would have been suicidal to
attempt to harm him.

The prisoner did not want a lawyer to defend him. He merely
wanted to plead guilty and have done with it. The court, none
the less, ordered that every member of the local bar submit his
name for the defense and one of the most capable was chosen
by lot to represent the defendant. Then a jury was impaneled
and sat to hear the case of the State of Mississippi v. James
Coyner.

The trial proceeded according to the niceties of the law in a
courtroom completely orderly and silent save for the wheezings
and coughings of the crowd. One by one the state’s witnesses
testified. A post-office inspector outlined the circumstances un-
der which the prisoner was arrested. A watchmaker identified
the watch of the dead man later found in the prisoner's posses-
sion, and a Negro identified the victim’s pocketknife. The
brother of the dead man gave his testimony, and a timid, fright-
ened little woman, an attaché of the Circuit Court clerk’s office,
presented records bearing on the location of the farm where
the prisoner lived with his mother. The confession was intro-
duced and those portions of it admitting crimes committed else-
where were deleted. Finally the sheriff took the stand and
opened a yellow box. From it he took some objects which made
the crowd gasp with horror. Here were slabs of the woman's
flesh and squares of her skin tanned as leather is tanned, found
where the prisoner had secreted them in his corn-crib.


MURDER.

Iris our painful duty to “ecard the
death of a very excellent and industri |
ous man by the name of Fergurson, an.
‘overseer on. -the- ‘Plantation of George.
Lake Esq. A megro man. belonging to
Jonathan McCuleb Esq. has heen -arrest-
ed for the crime, and- the | ‘Grand: ‘Sury
have found a bill against him. : “Ais trial
is going on before the Court. We. shave
not heard tho full particulars of the case,

P. 8. The Jury retired at 11 o'clock
last night and after an absence of fiftcen.
minutes returned a verdict'of Gorrr.—
The prisoner. will be sentenced to day.

[Z-U-1S 41 Ca/ ie

| Ransom the slave convicted of. mur-
driing Royal Fergurson, was executed
he hag the @Ist. inst.. at | o'clock |
P. Mw Ha made full disclosures, as. to
ie and why he committed the awful.
dred, and appeared perfectly regardless:
tu his punishment. - He was executed :

: thin the enclosure of the jail.

1942. (AN)

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168 SOUTHERN 69
PULLEN, Wilson, white, hanged at Winona, Mississippi, on June 19, 1936.

"(AP) Winona, Miss.e, June 19, 1936-Calmly and without showing any sign of emotion,
Wilson Pullen, Montgomery county tenant farmer, went to his death on the gallows

here today for the murder of Dave McClellan, his landlord, The trap was sprung at

an early hour and he was pronounced dead 7 minutes later, 'I hope you folks won't hold
this against my people,' Pullen was quoted by Sheriff oe Wright as saying just be-
fore he plunged through the trap. MAMAHEXMA He made no other statement."

AMERICAN, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, June 19, 1936 (7/1.)

"Jackson, Misse, June 9, = Wilson Pullen, sentenced to hang at Winona Friday, June 19,
will be given a clemency hearing here next Monday at 10 o'clock in the house of
representatives chamber, it was announced today by Governor Hugh White. Pullen was
convicted on a charge of murdering Dave McClellan, his landlord on a Montgomery county
plantation, on October 17, 1935." AMERICAN, Hattiesburg, MS, 6-9-1936 (10-5.)

. Gilbert Ransom,

«wea Bee

for. the mbrde

. = ,
colored; ° was

oe ‘alos colo red. . Newton

rley Foun-

‘tata, colored, who wasiengaged in
1d" oiwim testa of the'samo crime,

Se be wad

Pride, April Sth.

SUMMIT CONSERVATIVE TIMES,

Summit, Mississippi,

March 475
2/1)

1878

executed iat the dame ela,

gig. ‘g youey *tddtsstssty ‘Aueqty mey pesuey SyoeTQ *44eqTTD ‘WOSNVY

zg on the
and appel-
g work on
nk I could
im no -en-
job”; that
t as appel-
1; he was

ms between
J blacksmith

f he wanted #

he said he
¥ gun at him
ire; that he
-omplice: got
mn the black-
‘nt into the
commantied
a struck: Mr.
| accused. to
thing which
lant said. he
pecified arti-
on a suit of
tic Colts, and
pennies”, and
there in-, the
and . some
ow into the
he had sold.a
He was ask-
are raising. in
‘tt the one that
replied, “Yes,
1 left, the wit-
ling; that he
and had never
urther examin-

ed up from by
ot it from the

at went in and
rope? A. Yes,

.e that went be-
qd that hole in

es, Sif.”

’

uilding, did you?

$ it
adh

me

big bar and went

»oHethen said the first-and only, person he
shad told; about thig-mysterious helper was
chisattorney:.on: the ae before ‘he tes-

tified, [proc g oi

“Appellant. says: his version of the werie of
theaccomplice is not contradicted; that he
was the only eyewititess to those facts, and
he should: be acquitted because this testi-
mony brings him within the rule announced

F \in-Weathersby vs State, 165° Miss. 207, M7

So. 481, 482, -and cases following ity.

which, case it was,‘said:.-“It has been for
some time ‘the established-rule in this: state
that where the defendant or the defendant’s
witnesses are the only;eyewitnesses, to the
homicide, their version, if, reasonable, must
be ‘accepted as true, tinless' ;.substantially
‘contradicted ‘in material «particulars ~by, a
credible witness or. witttesses) for the! state,
ot by the physical facts ot: by the facts’ of
common. knowledge.’ - It, is at once appar-
ent; that.the jury: could ‘have believed: -his
version on-the, stand. ‘was contradicted: by
the. physical, facts..; To give one, illustra-
tion «it was. shown, that the clothing worn
by appellant and; which he says‘ he. dis-
carded and left in the, store-were bloody.
(When, Wayrnire was hit, ‘appellant was
‘closevenough:for the blood from the wounds
on his head to get;upon; the clothing. then
worn by appellant. | ‘This physical fact 'con-

tradicts. his. version. on, the stand, -Other

instances. ‘might. be cited. . Again, it. was
for, the jury to. say whether his story. that

some phantom. than forced him to. partici- |

pate was, reasonable. Was it,,reasonable
that if some person did foree him to. partici-
pate | that such. person would liave ‘made him
change his clothing? Why would the other
party have thought that to his advantage?

It would have been to the advantage ofthis ..,. =

imaginary. person, to. establish evidence, of
the guilt of appellant. , _ Again, his account
of how he met this person, that he had nev-
er seen him before or since, did not know
him, all bore upon, the reasonableness and

probability of his story. It is clear appel- ~

lant is not within the. rule laid down i in the
radar case. .

i

“[4] -Appellant:! begquestéa’” ‘thd was ‘re-
fused, an ‘instruction telling the jury that if
they believed from the evidence the.-cir-
cumstances - .surrounding’ appellant at: the

ertiicte pgCLAUNCH:v; STATE Ns 9% 7: Miss. 581
Cite as 45 So.2d 581

-time'he made the confession “were ‘calcu-
lated to awaken fear or suspicion against
him, and that he was ignorant of the 'na-
ture and course of criminal proceedings,
and, under such beliefs, was induced by the
officers and District Attorney to give such
confession * * *” the jury . should
take such facts into. ‘consideration in, de-
termining the guilt or innocence of the de-
fendant. It was not error to refuse this in-
‘struction. In the first place, the test iS
not whether the cifcumstances were, “cal-
ctilated” to induce it. In the, second place,
his account of the circumstances was given
the jury. and no doubt the jury, did take
‘such account ‘into consideration i in arriving
at ‘his guilt « or innocence. And i in the third
‘place, appellant was granted the following
instruction: “The Court instructs the jury
for the defendant that if you believe from
the’ evidence that the alleged confession of
the defendant was brought about by. fear,
duress, intimidation; or that’ such confes-
sion was untrue, then you may disregard it
altogether.”

We might,add that, "becauge of the age of
defendant, who is now about. seventeen
years old, we have been diligent to discover
reversible, error if such exists, but we have
not succeeded in, discovering such error.

Affirmed, and: Tharsday, -May. 255 1950,
set for the date of execution,

© & KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

anms

yr, *

hy °° GLAUNCH v. STATE, |
No. 37351.

Supreme Court of Mississippi, in Bane.
wis, April 10, 1950.

Buford Claunch was convicted in the Cir-
cuit Court for Prentiss County, Raymond T.
Jarvis, J., of the unlawful possession of ‘in-
‘toxi¢ating liquor, and he appealed.” The Su-
spremé Court,’ Smith, 'J., held that’ the” ap-
pointment of a special officer to execute a
search warrant, was void, and evidence ob-
tained thereunder would be suppressed.


a considerable crowd was milling around in the vicinity of the Turner home, Cleveland citie
zens said tonight that,ao far-as known, neither. Turner nor his wife had a single enemy in the
world, He was & truck driver, 26-yearseeld, while his wifewas two years his junion, Their
lives had always been along peaceful lines, their neighbors said." TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Ore
leans, La,, 12-10-193) (1/8). . Sowa . :

"Cleveland, Missey Jane 12, 1935—A watch, owned by Aurelius B, Turner, mysteriously missing
since he and his wife were found slain in bed at their home in Cleveland Dec, 10, turned up
today, and with it officers arrested a negro whom they said admitted being a graveerobber,
The negro, booked as James H, Coyner, wearing a watch which officers said had been identified
as turnér's missing timepiece, was arrested in the Cleveland post office this.morning, and
spirited away to an unannounced jail to prevent possible violence, Deputy Sheriff Charles
Maddox of Bolivar County, and a postoffice inspector, who aflded him in the arrest, said they «
regarded the finding of the Turner watch and the arrest of Coyner as one of themost signifi-
cant develepments in the perplexing investigation of the. double slayings, which shocked this
section of. the statelast month, Before news of. the arrest was generally circulated about the
streets of Cleveland, the suspect was loaded into an automobile and hurriedly driven out of Ly
town, In custody of Bolivar County officers, the negro passed through Greenwood, Miss., this
morning, but the officers refused to divulge their destination, The officers said Coyner de- 7
nied the Cleveland slayings but admitted that he had served a term in the Indiana penitentiary :
on a charge of stealing, a body from a cemetery, The bodies of, Mr, and Mrs, Turner, beaten and
~ disfigured with a hammer, were found in bed at their home onthe morning of Dec. 10 by a maid
when she cam to work, The. Turners! son, AureliusB, Turner, Jr., 6, had been beaten over the
head with a hammer, Though unconscious when found, he recovered, An infant child in the bed-
room was unharmed, Turner, in addition to the rain of blows from the hammer, had been shot
through the head, and his wife's body was mutilated by a sharp instrument. The arresting
-officers reported that a pistol was faken from the negro,
"A minute search of the premises of Coyner, where the negro had lived with his aged mother
since coming here from Indianapolis, Ini., revealed strange discoveries today which officers
were giving further study. It was revealed by investigating officers that Coyner was arrested
as an outgrowth of an investigation of obsceneletters which had been sent through the mils to
white families in this section recently, A family near Merigold received such a letter Nov. h,
- while another letter was intercepted and brought Postal Inspector R, T, Rock of Chattanooga
to, Cleveland to investigate,
"huthorities said the postoffice department had received comlaints from prominent women re=
siding in Northern cities of obscene letters mailed from this section, Oyner,who had lived in
Indianapolis, came undersuspicition,, officers said, when he appeared at the post office this
morning to claim his Indianapolis newspaper, He was placed under arrest by Inspector Rock and
Maddox, A search of the negro's house revealed a suitcase, which officers said, contained bits o
of yhat appeared te be human flesh." TIMES-PICAYUNE, New bricans, Las, 1-13-1935 (12/1.)

"Jackson, Misse, Jan, 16, 1935—District Attorney Greek P, Rice of Clarksdale said tonight that
James H, Coyner, negre, held here for safekeeping, had corf essdd the killing of Mr, ‘and Mrs,
Aurelius B, Turner at Clevelang, Miss., last Dec, 9, Rice said the confession was made late :
tonight in the presence of himself, Sheriff E, R,.. McLean of Bolivar Co,. and Sheriff John

Roberts of Hinds Co, The district attorney had questioned the negro earlier today, but had Fi
‘left for home after receiving no answers to his questions, He came back tonight when Sheriff .
Roberts said Coyner was 'ready to talk,' The negro, earlier today, turned philosopher and
-discussed his belief in fatalism, ‘What is to be, will be', he said, laughing loudly, . Cir-

cuit Judge William A. Alcorn, Jr., of Clarksdale has Called: a special term of court at Cleve-

land for Feb, ); for a grand jury investigation of the deaths of Mr, and Mrs, Turner, The

officers and prosecutor would not say when Coyner was to be carried back to Cleveland, but it

was again reiterated that no call would be mde for state. troops te attend the sxppcted trial

of the a€cused negro. Coyner had served seven years of a sentence of from one te ten years

in the Indiana penitentiary after being convicted of robbing the grave of a white woman, He

was then paroled from the prison last June, coming back to Mississippi about July 1, It was

soon after then when the mailing of obscene letters te white women was traced from Cleveland,
Postoffice inspectors apprehended Coyner in the postoffice at Cleveland last Saturday, Dis-

trict Attorney Rice did not questien the negre about Michigan reports of the finding of heads

-of l, white women wrapped in a newspaper ad lecked in a trunk, Other negro prisoners in the

Hinds County Jail here are frightened by the presenceof yd jail officials declare, flatly
refusing to go about the accused negro," TIMES PICAYUNE, N ew Orleans, Lasy 1-17-1935 13-50)

*

authorities about 3s))5 am, today, after transporting him over a devious route from the Hinds
County Jail at Jackson to the Bolivar Oounty Courthouse, There he wastried and convicted a
month age of the slaying of Mrs, Turner, The National Guard turned the courthouse*inte an
armed fortress for his protection at the trial, At*3:S6naame, SheriffE. R, McLean sprang
the trap, Ten minutes later the negro was pronounced dead, His body was let down to the

- ground floor on a pulley and the man-knotted noose, which broke his neck when he drepped

_ through thethapy, was unknotted after 10 minutes of hard work by the Guardsmen, The negro's
body, unclaimed by relatives, was placed in a wooden box and was rushed to burial in a

- pauper’s grave at the county poor farm. While his hands were being strapped to his legs as
he stood on the scaffold, the negro said he ‘wanted a preacher,* but alittle later laughed
a bit and 1 ft his hearers in doubt as to what he meant, The hefty Robinson mainkained his
professed fatalism and indifference io death to the last. Just before the black hood and
the noose were*pl aced over his head, he laughed again at oe pmb It was his last laugh.
A moment later the shekiff sprung the trap." TIMES-PICAYUN#, New Yrleans,-La., Merch 6,

Me

?
i

td

ON Ee re ee ee A ee ee en  Memennre en ere tae

ROBINSON y Alonzo - Mississippi - Continued,

"Jackson, Miss,, Jan. 17, 1935=Before hesigned a confession to the mrder of Aurelius B,
Turner and his wife at Cleveland, Misse, last Becember and to nocturnal diggings in grave-
yards for bodies of yeung women because we 'wanted their bones,' Slonzo Robinson, alias
James H, Coyner, Delta negro, today exacted from Boliyar County authorities a promise they
would release his 7l-yeareold mother from jail and give her protection. The only sign of
feeling shown by the burly fatalist - he laughs at the idea he will s wing on the gallows and
professes a belief in fatalism - came when he learned she had been placed in jail in Cleve-
land for questioning. 'She!s innocent of any knowledge of this crime,' he told officers who
up KMARXXZMEXHARKE to that time were unable to break through his silence and make any headway
with their questionings. 'Call the district attorney back, I'll talk,' Back from Cleve-
_land where he had returned after a useless day spent in questioning Robinson, came district
attorney Greek P, Rice of Clarksdale, accoiipanied by Sheriff E, R, McLean and several depu-
ties, The officials arrived here late last night, spent several hours questioning Hobinson
: in obtaining his confession and after it was signed this morning they left for Cleveland te
, lay plans for a speedy trial at a special term of court at Cleveland in February, Rice de-
‘ clared beforehis departure troops wuld not be called to Cleveland for the trial. Robinson’
‘ weird recital of his abnormalities and ghoulish activities, which lasted until well past
minight, was first made to the district attorney, Sheriff McBean and Sheriff John Roberts o.
Hinds County, in whose mobprooof jail the negro will be held for safekeeping until his trial,
Robinson repeated his confession later before a score or more of officials and newspaperma@ ¢
Robinson s confession covered in detail the shooting, hacking and butchering of Turner and
his wife, the robbing of graves in Michigan and Indiana and his abnormal activities fer over
a decade, 'I just had an impulse to kill somebody,' he calmly told the district attorney
in well-chosen words from his comparatively large vocabulary, He couldn's say whey he se-
lected the Turners for his victims, 'I can't give any reason for it.'" JIMHS-PICAYUNE,
New Orleans, La,, 1/18/1935 (/3.)

"Jackson, MisSe, 2=3=1935~Guarded by 200rheavily armed state militia, James H, Coyner, 210-
pound negro ghoul, wastransferred to a 'lynchsproof! baggage car in irons heretonight and
the special train which will carry him to the scene of his trial in Cleveland, Miss., for
the double slaying of Mr, and Mrs, Aurelius B, Turner was started moving toward the North
Mississippi Belta." TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, Lasy 2=)j1935 (l-1.)

"Cleveland, 2=5-193l-As 600 National Gaurdsmen protected hin, James Coyner, giant negro

ghoul, was indicted today, arraigned, tried, convicted and sentenced to be hanged here for

the murder of Mrs, Aurelius B, Turner. The toops brought thenegro here this morning from

Jackson, and tonight, an hour after his conviction, boarded a train with him for the return

trip to the jail there, Judge W. W. Alcorn fixed Mar, 5 as the date for the execution,

The court proceeding, winding up the case in one day, was one of the epecdians om record

in Mississigpi.e Thestate used only 7 witnesses, relying principally on Coyner Ss canfession,

The defense introduced no witnesses. The jury took oh}yy 5 minutes to bring in a verdicat

after Dist, Atty. Rice made a dramatic plea for the death penalty, displaying 3 pieces of
flesh which Coyner allegedly cut from the body of Mrs, turner... Against the wishes of the
_ defendant, Judge,Alcorn appointed two lawyers, C. H. Cuump and Hugh Causey, to defend
Coynere,." TIMES BICAYUNE, New Orleans, 2=5-193h (1/7).

,.eRobinson still maintains his fatalistic indifference to death, but has a horror of
being buried, He desires that his body be cremated..." TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, La.,

"Cleveland, Mississippig March 5, 1935«~The National Guard had come and gone, and Alonzo B,
Robinson, alias James H, Ooyner, 0-yeareold giant negro, had been haned and buried before
Cleveland awoke today. The law had run its course, with dispatch, Hundreds who Had arri-
ved after daylight expecting to see the hanging found a ropeless scaffold, the trap sprung,
Robinson dead and buried in a pauper's grave at the county poor farm Without any lost
motion, under the watchful eye of a special detail of up to 300 National Guardsmen, the
state exacted Robinson's life for the slaying and mtilation of Mrs. Aurelius B, Turner,

who with her husband was hacked todeath in their home here last December, In darkness and
heavy rain thatkept all but a few at home, theGuardsmen delivered the negro to Bolivar Co,

* 1

kK. hanged Cleveland. M3 March 5, 193506.
20BINSO N iy lonzo, black, hanged Cleveli na, Mo ON i tL Ds ZY
AW 2S ob AN aN yg 4 <4 C

=
a

Py ; “ wish Td f
~ a ich: ES Ct still)” said John fi

|
'

f: 7 : ng of Che in court, and tes
id exhibited eac Cc tt faanhten nee ee ae t

he kill. |
my daugh nea 4 ion, to the °
cae Spring ans ing of bie wile ig,
ed. “T remem mt ; hown here following, t 1 Rea Angeles.

High School with |

ie’s working in

ey
ear the Plymouth 9 rs
’ I told the sur- SA:
' the vicinity he a
ade inquiries in i a, ag.
1, in the fourth, 5 4 i
t, Mary Fabadja. ces i ys $i,
uibited a puzzled ss ct sf
er. >: ‘. y rita’
es oy
18 Norwalk,” I i * . i
3
oem, te —_ oe _ , : toutilation wander oF Ar
= a ; oS , vias ‘urner and wife in Cleveland, Mississippi, -
no one by that ot st ioe :
| it to her. , , y. ct
right.” p & tf
found in Jaffer’s > 39
ued.on page 81) ian
\} . f
doctor . 7
ecromancy i {
as : mete.
\ J
in fe ve ¥
fhe a . arr
‘a: s ;
: cking h r]
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ae
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NA chet cal he Wit Nea

( a ty } 4 & ; a & ] CS Lt 4} o} hind -, pee
be LOLLY g Juke y A dada St Nad ake Vv 5 5

“| Was Born to Kill!" Could

Any . Man's Destiny

Be

More Horrible? Yet That.
Was This Killer's Conviction

By Sheriff E. R. McLean

Bolivar County, Cleveland, Miss.

The man who
said he was
Robinson, et al,
and who turned
out to be
James Coyner

The house that
sheltered the
oddest museum
on record: Coy-
ner’s chamber
of horrors, with
Sheriff McLean
on the porch

(Part Two)

HE people of Cleveland, Mississippi, when they
heard the news of Rufus Lee Roy’s arrest, pitched
into another frenzy. They clamored, for the
ispect to be brought to Cleveland, not to Memphis.
1 their minds rose the pee of the horrible. Sadistic
vurder and. butchery of Mrs. Turner. They wanted
istice done in their own way.
However, if Inspector Griffin of the Memphis police
id not asked to have Roy brought to Memphis, |
ver would have dreamed of bringing him to Cleve-
nd. Guilty or innocent, | did not intend to have him
nched, even if I had to protect him with my very life.
ow Griffin’s request settled the important matter of
jail in which to, keep the suspected murderer, There-
re, | wired the Inspector that we would. arrive in Mem-
lis with the man the next evening. Then I notified
istrict Attorney Greek P. Rice at Clarksdale; and when
r. Rice arrived in Cleveland, accompanied by Chief
Police Birdsong of Clarksdale, | was ready to leave
r Shreveport with my deputies, Arthur Pearman, Char-
: Maddox and John Davis. Then minutes later we
sre speeding toward the Louisiana city, three hundred
id fifty miles south.
We arrived. in Shreveport before daylight the next
orning, had something to eat, handcuffed, our prisoner
d pulled out for the five-hundred mile drive to Mem-

)

Sheriff McLean

phis. True to my word to permit In-
spector Griffin to question Roy first, |
remained silent about the murder, save
to tell him that he was suspected of it,
on the long trip to Tennessee. At. six
o'clock that night we reached our des-
tination, tired but happy. Mr. Griffin
was. waiting for us at his Detective
Bureau; and after greeting us, he took
us. immediately into his private office
where he sat  & down across the desk
from himself. He began to question
the suspect at once:
“Now, Roy, you listen to me well,”
the Inspector said impressively. “I’m
not going to take up a lot of time with
ou. You’ve got just one chance to
eat the rope. I’m going to give you
that chance, Give me a sufficient ex-
cuse for killing Turner and his wife.
If you don’t defend yourself, don’t spit
out that sufficient excuse, if you remain
silent and make us have to convict you
—well, you’re a goner. Come on—
what did Turner do to you?”
Nervously Roy wet his lips with
his. tongue. e. waited tensely, but he
did not speak, If the Inspector hoped
. to trap Roy into an admission with his

As Told to

Fred G. Millette

suggestive psychology, if
we expected to hear Roy
say ‘Turner horse-whipped
me and I killed him for
it,” then we were soon dis-
illusioned. What he did
say was: “I had nothin
to do with the murder.
was in Shreveport Decem-
ber eighth. I can prove it.
People are already prepar-
ing affidavits to that effect.
I can name a dozen who
saw me either in Shreve-
port or Benton on Decem-
ber seventh, eighth, ninth
and tenth.”

Of course Inspector
Griffin had heard that
story many times before.
“Then name ’em!” he
snapped.

In such cases a suspect
nearly always fails to name
a single person, but Roy
quickly named six. Mr.
Griffin wrote them down,
with their addresses, Then,
suddenly leaning toward
Roy, he ordered:

“Let's stop. this. stall-
ing, Roy. We've got the


goods on you, and you know it.”

Roy shook his head doggedly—the merciless grilling
had begun. Throughout the night it continued—without
cracking Roy. And when day came, Inspector Griffin
was still at it. *

We had learned, during the few minutes we were in
Shreveport, that Roy had denied his identity when ar-
rested there. Now Inspector Griffin pounded away at
him with this weapon—but without success.

OMETHING else we had learned was that Roy

washed his trousers himself Monday after the mur-
der instead of having them laundered. Now this formed
the basis for another savage attack by the Inspector.
It, too, failed to shake the suspect.

Mr. Griffin then’ attacked Roy’s sex perversions.
This he admitted, rather pathetically declaring that he
could not help it, that . had no control over his
desires!

I,,too, took a hand, springing the abandoned car on
him. “Roy,” | said, “when did you buy that Ford coupe
from Commodore Richardson that you left in Cleve-
land when it failed to start for you after you left the
murder scene?”

“I don’t know anyone named Richardson,” Roy
answered. “I have a Ford coach, not a coupe, and it’s
in Shreveport.”

He denied knowing anything about the map with the
word copyright written on it, in what we believed to be
his handwriting. He said that he might have written
the word, but he did not remember anything about it,
or how it came to be in Richardson’s car. Indeed, he
denied everything connected with the fiendish murder.

Suddenly Inspector Griffin thrust a sheet of paper
before him. “I want you to print, not write, what I
dictate,” Mr. Griffin ordered. He took from his desk
a photographic copy of one of the obscene letters to
the women mailed at Merigold, and read to Roy: “Mrs.
Josephine Wellman, 151 Pennsylvania Avenue, Indian-
apolis, Ind.”

YWytEN Roy had ‘finished printing the name and ad-
dress, the Inspector reached for the paper, studied
it a moment, pushed back his chair and stood up. To
me he said: “I think that’s all for just now.” He rang
for an officer. “Lock up this man—incommunicado,”
he ordered.

Then, when we officers were alone, he said: “Roy
didn’t write the obscene letters. We'll break him after
we get a little sleep. He'll break, I’m sure, if he’s
guilty.”

Before we left to find a hotel for the day, we
watched Inspector Griffin dispatch telegrams to Sheriff
L. H. Padgett, Benton, Louisiana, and to Chief of Police
E. E. Norvell of Shreveport, giving the names Roy had
mentioned and requesting investigation of his claim of

being in Shreveport or Benton on
December eighth.

Late that afternoon we returned
to Memphis Police Headquarters.
Till far into the night Griffin again
worked with Roy—and learned ex-
actly nothing. Off and on through-
out the day and night of December
twentieth we questioned him; and
still he clung to his innocence.

But we were just as much con-
vinced of his guilt as ever.

UDDENLY, on December twen-

ty-first, Louisiana sent a bomb-
shell crashing into our ranks. This
was in the nature of telegrams, let-
ters, affidavits from unimpeachable
witnesses swearing they had _ seen
Roy in Louisiana every day from
December seventh to December
tenth inclusive!

Neither Inspector Griffin nor |
could believe our eyes. We were
thunderstruck. There had been so
many circumstances pointing to
Roy’s ~ irrefutably, and now—
this! ur three witnesses who de-
clared they saw Roy in Cleveland
were obviously mistaken, perhaps
being filled with the frenzy that ef-
fected everyone in Cleveland. There
was nothing to do now except re-
turn to Mississippi and take up the

All the horror-trove found in Coyner’s room, including the weapons he used for murder. At left, the
spot on the railroad tracks where the killer dropped—and lost—part of his package of human flesh

search once more: for the murderer.

“Perhaps,” I suggested to my de-
puties, “Postmaster Park is right; may-
be the obscene letter writer did com-
mit the murder.”

1 shook hands with Inspector Griff-
in and prepared to return to Cleveland.
“We are not whipped. by any means,
as we have some other leads we shall
begin working on immediately,” the
Inspector said encouragingly. “This
fellow Roy shouldn’t be turned loose
on the public. He’s insane beyond
doubt.”

“What would you suggest?” I
asked. .

“He should be. committed to an in-
stitution for the insane. It just hap-
pens that he didn’t commit this crime.
But he is capable of doing so.”

I agreed to leave Roy in Inspector
Griffin's hands so that he could com-
mit Roy to some veterans’ hospital

for the. insane if it were possible to do so.

On returning to my office | had a report from the
Department of Investigation. The single hair found in
the glove on the murder scene was, as we believed, from a
human. hand, no ‘doubt the murderer’s. ‘The report ad-
vised me that if | had suspects | might send in hairs
for comparison.

S FOR the bullet, it bore distinct markings which

would make possible the determining of the gun if
that gun were found. The Department hadn’t had time
to make tests with the .38 Smith & Wesson Special Re-
volver which Deputy McNeil brought me, but would do
so at once and let me know the result.

Now that the hair had proved to come from the
back: of a‘human hand, | decided to take a long shot
on Roy’s matching. Therefore, | requested Inspector
Griffin to take specimens from Roy’s hand and send
them in. Right now I may as well say that they were
entirely different. Thus ended all hope which | may
have entertained as to Roy’s guilt. And on December
28, Mr. Griffin having failed to have him committed
to an asylum | sent Deputy Pearman to Memphis to

21


in the city, wax counded up and taken to
Police Headquarters for a thorough going-
over. Speakeasies and gambling houses
were closed, and the erime-graph at Head
quatters dropped to the lowest level in
years.

But the attempted assassination of In-
spector Garvin remains unsolved. | The
fearless Inspector, it is freely predicted,
will some day learn who shot him; his
whole life and career now are dedicated to
that single purpose. ;

If the Purples had been successful in this
last bid for eminence, there is no telling
what the future would have held for the
ex-baseballers from [lastings Street. But
this failure proved to be only another of
a list of defeats which was to wipe them
oul, .

The next blow fell on July 22, 1930. Ar-
thur Mixom, a 17-year-old Negro. boy,
stopped at the door of a garage building
on Detroit's east side, and peered in, He
didn’t know that the garage was used by
the Purples as a cutting plant for their
whiskey business. Inside he saw Phil Key-
well and Morris Raider, just ready to step
into an automobile. They ordered the boy
away. He sassed them. The suave Raider
calmly pulled a revolver from his pocket
and shot the boy dead.

The two gangsters leaped into the auto-
mobile and shot out of the garage. They
thought they could escape, but again they
muffed. Witnesses positively identified the
pair, and dared to do so from the witness
stand at their trial. The whole city anx-
iously awaited the jury’s verdict, and
breathed easier when they were found
guilty. Keywell and Raider were shipped
to Marquette penitentiary, to spend the
rest of their lives. And two more of the
Purples had been put away.

The remaining Purples were jittery now.
And they were more so when some weeks
later Joe (Honey Boy) Miller was confined
in a Michigan insane asylum, a gibbering
maniac, Presumably, oh over his mis-
deeds had upset his mind. The little hand-
ful of Purples who now sat in on frequent
conferences, at length decided to make an-
other and final bid for the power which
was so sweet to,them. And so they plan-
ned the massacre which was to complete
their downfall, even as the Miraflores Mas-
sacre crowned them with success only four
years before!

On the sultry afternoon of September
16, 1931, Joseph Lebold, Joseph Sutker and
Hlymie Paul, three members of the Little
Navy gang, Were invited to an apartment
at No. 1740 Collingwood Avenue. The
Little Navy gangsters, so-called because
they used rowboats to ferry-rum across
the Detroit River while other run-runners

"The Most Brutal Murder on Record" (Continued from

came our first break in the investigation
of Rufus Lee Roy. A Cleveland man,
Mr, Jesse Watts, walked into my office
with the information that sent our hopes
sky-high.

“I saw Roy here in Cleveland Friday
night,” Watts declared.

A short while after Watts left we had
another caller, a Cleveland citizen also.
“Rufus Lee Roy was in Cleveland roy:
the day before the murder,” Upton Walk-
er informed us. “I saw him; I can’t be
mistaken.”

At 2 o'clock argent Jones arrived
with the bloodhounds from the convict
farm. They were fine dogs and had
trailed and caught some badly wanted
criminals; but I feared they never would
distinguish the scent of the murderer
from that of the many people who had
visited the house. However, we hurried
the dogs to the scene, and Sergeant, Jones
attempted to get them started on the
killer’s tracks. But we were doomed to
disappointment; the hounds were helpless.

Hundreds of citizens were there to see
our failure. Indeed, people were every
place where they might learn something
to help us get a clew to the murderer, It
seemed that all Cleveland, shocked and
angry over the vile crime, had turned
detective.

At 5 o'clock that afternoon Morris

Soloman and Roger Kennon arrived from:

Memphis, Tennessee, one hundred and
forty miles north, and brought with them
their finger-print aw ;

“Let’s begin by looking over any evi-

38

toed high powered speedboat. and baygien
had been selling narcotics im recent: weeks,
and obtaining their supplies from the Pur-
ples,

Lebold, Sutker and Paul were elated
with their new success. Vhey had potten a
start when, in the dead of aight, they tad
hijacked a whiskey truck. Another group
of hoodlums had heen blamed for the hi-
jacking, and the Little Navy members bra-
zenly used the money they netted to buy
dope from the Purples. And the whiskey
truck belonged to the Purples in the first
place! At the coming conference, the Lit-
tle Navy mobsters told) themselves, they
would swing a better deal with the Purples
and be well on the way to big business
men,

On the way to the Collingwood address,
the Little Navy men passed Solly Levine,
the former utility infielder on the Hastings
Street baseball team, who was standing on
a street corner, Levine had not seen much
of the Purples in recent months, and he
was employed as a counterman in a big
handbook headquarters. The Little Navy
men invited Solly to ride, and when they
told him where they were going, he de-
cided to accompany them, and renew his
acquaintance with the Purples.

The four visitors were greeted at the
door of the apartment by Ral Bernstein,
Harry Keywell, Irving Milberg and Harr
Fleisher. They shook hands all around,
and the four newcomers accepted cigarettes
offered them. They sat down on a daven-
port on one side of the room. The con-
versation was general for a few minutes,
then Ray Bernstein excused himself to
“go down to the car after the account
books.” He was gone for a minute or so,
when an auto motor raced in back of the

. apartment, and there were three sharp

blasts of the horn.

This was a prearranged signal. Fleisher,
Keywell and Milberg, as one, jerked auto-
matics from their pockets and opened fire
on the visitors. The first shot whistled by
Solly Levine’s nose. He leaped into a
corner—and was saved. Round after round
crashed into the bodies of the Little Navy
mobsters. When they had crumpled to the
floor, and the Purples had made sure they
were dead, they dropped their smoking
ges into cans of paint, which they had

rought to the apartment for this purpose.
The paint successfully destroyed the finger-
prints. Then they ran down the stairs and
escaped in the waiting car. Solly Levine
rode along with them, and was fet out a
few blocks away. Keywell gave him $3 for
cabfare.

Ironically, perhaps the one act of mercy
ever credited to the Purples brought about
their ruination. Solly Levine was arrested

dence you discovered at the murder
scene,” Detective Kennon suggested.

‘I brought out the bullet, the glove, and
the brad hammer. They, examined: the
bullet first, and agreed with us as to its
size. The brad hammer next came under
their close scrutiny, but they could find
me Beats on its handle.

ext came the canvas glove. And now
the men made a_ valuable discovery,
Turning the glove wrong-side-out beneath
their magnifying glass, they found one
single hair from the back of a man’s hand,
presumably the murderer’s!

“This is a splendid find,” Detective
Soloman declared. “It will enable you to
make comparisons with various suspects
you arrest.”

‘ After this, the men wanted to visit the
murder room. On the way | explained to
them whom we suspected, and what we
knew of the suspect.

At the Turner home the detectives
spent two hours searching for prints. At
length they were forced to the belief that
the murderer wore the gloves all through
the crime, dropping one as he went out
the door.

From the scene of the murder we has-
tened to the undertaking establishment
owned by Coroner Thweatt. Here the
men examined the bodies, especially the
horribly mutilated form of Mrs. Turner,
They conversed together in low tones,
and I could not understand their words,

Presently Detective Kennon turned to

‘me: “This is the worst case we've ever

seen of its kind,” he declared.

tthe pemenad police conned Hope tet eens Ohne
poles poll he broke and told: all details of
the Collingwood) Massacre. Tad Levine
Web oaner played ath the Pht. Street
baseball team, he might not have been
spared by the Purples: amd had he net
been spared, Che qitssacte tight dave prone
unsolved!

— Atbany rate, Harry Keywell already was
in acell when Levine broke, and a murder
charge was placed against him. A_ few
hours Liter detectives raided an apartnent
and arrested Erving Milberg and Kay Bern
stein, With them was Miss Elsie Carroll,
a beautiful former New York showpirl tn
her purse the police found $10,000 in cash,
In Milberg’s car in front of the apartment
the police found packed bags. he twe
Purples were caught just before they had
fled the city. Harry Fleisher, the fourth
Member of the massacre gang, had man-
aged to leave town, and he was not cap-
tured. (The facts herein narrated are from
Levine's testimony.)

Levine stuck by his story at the trial,
and the three Purples were convicted and
sent to Marquette for life terms. Solly
then was spirited out of the country by
Police, and the case was declared settled,
with Fleisher still sought. One day months
later a Detroit newspaper received a letter
from Levine, in which he repudiated the
story he had told at the trial. Police said
that the Purples had found him.

In his letter Levine offered to come back
and testify again, if a new trial would be
granted the convicted men. But nothing
more ever was heard from him! — Police
shook their heads and declared that he had
met a horrible death! A few weeks later
Harry Vleisher boldly walked into Police
Headquarters and gave himself up! He
knew, and the police knew, that without
Levine's testimony he could not be con-
victed in the Collingwood murders. He
wasn't. He was released from custody
without a trial!

The life sentences for these three Pur-
ples, particularly Ray Bernstein, was a
death blow for the gang. Bernstein's broth-
ers spent thousands, unsuccessfully, in at-
tempting to obtain new trials. While these
convictions really dropped the curtain on
the Purples, there was one more episode.

About midnight on November 26, 1933,
a policeman stopped to investigate a car
parked without lights in Quarton Road, in
the exclusive Detroit suburb of Bloomfield
Hills, not far from the stone and marble
mansions of several auto. millionaires,
Crumpled on the back seat were the figures
of two. slender, well-dressed young men.
They had been shot to death, and after
death their hands had been clasped to-
gether in a gruesome token of their life-

I was eager to learn what they thought
of as the motive, but neither would make
a statement.

“We'll give you a report when we've
finished our whole investigation,” De-
tective Soloman. declared. ‘They — said
that they didn’t like to give snap opinions,

The next morning. December 10, | ob-
tained an interview for them with Rufus
Lee Roy's divorced wife, the young sister
of Aurelius and Edwin ‘Turner,

That Monday night Detectives Solo-
man and Kennon at last detailed to me
their findings. It was then that | dlis-
covered, with great surprise, the nature of
the crime and its motive.

“This murder.” Mr. Kennon explained,
“shows plainly the mind of a sadist. It
is the work of a peculiar sex pervert, with
cannibalistic tendencies. And, with few
exceptions, it is the most brutal murder
on record,”

“T felt that the killer must have been a
species of cannibal,” | told) the men.
“But [ didn’t understand its connection
with sex perversion.”

“The murderer,” Detective Kennon con-
tinued, “may have had a motive, other
than his strange sex lust—and it’s likely
that revenge was it. But after the mo-
ment of murder, he turned into a monster
Sadist.”

“What do you think of the possibility
of Roy’s guilt?” | asked eagerly.

“TL was coming to that,” Kennon. said.
“That possibility is very great. In talk-
ing to his ex-wife, we found that he hated
Turner and desired revenge for the whip-

Veotury Erveuebsteage Phrey were tebertitieed ae.
Abe Aster and bddhe tletcher, the two
New York boys who had become bern
Hole Perego gouge ters! Otaby a dew dings be
fore Harry S. boy, then Detroit's Prose-
entor, tad taaned them Michigan's Pub
The Detneneaness DNoo Denne tt

Aster and Pletcher were the last of the
Purples to po. Police didn't solve. their
Hutders, bat Tlomicide Squad) detectives
suid they marked milestones in Detroit's
underworld history, Other underworld
denizens who had divided up) Detroit's
crime and rackets, had wiped them out be-
eatee Chey hack dared te sell narceties on
aosmall scale! Phe murdered) pan were
buried in their native New) York—and
With them wars buried the pory record of
(he most in bemous poe a Detroit's his
tory! The Purple Gang is dead now—
definitely done, finished, ended!

And this is what happened to the mem-
bers of the Hastings Street baseball team
to the ES youths who emblazened. in
blood the name of the Purple Gang in
America’s crime annals:

Theee of the thirteen” were killed by
enemy guns; Little Irvy Shapiro, Abe Ax-
ler and Eddie Fletcher,

Five of the other ten are serving life
terms for murder; Ray’ Bernstein, Morrie
Raider. Harry Keywell, Phil Keywell and
Irvy Milberg,

And the other five are living haunted,
harassed lives. Abe, Izzy and Joey Bern-
stein retired from. the’ gang years ago.
Vhey were well off. financially—but not
otherwise. Joey holed into a thirty-room,
$100,000 mansion he had built: in’ Palmer
Woods, swanky Detroit residential dis-
trict. But he gave it up when his neigh-
bors bore down. ‘The brothers spend most
of their days now in and out of Detroit,
attempting to get their little brother Ray
out of prison, and doing their best to keep
out of the pitiless glare of the Crimelight!

Joe Coney Boy) Miller, was finally re-
leased from the insane asylum. He also is
in and out of Detroit, “a pitiful, nerve-
wracked wreck of the strong, husky man
he once was. Police keep close watch of
him, as they do of all the others.

Harry Vleisher also is at large. [His is a
strange case. Michigan citizens know that
he should be in prison, along with the
three other Collingwood Massacre killers.
But they know, too, that with Solly Levine
missing the police can never put him there.
As this was was written Fleisher was a fu-
gitive again, hunted day and night by the
government for operating an unlicensed
distillery.

The history of Detroit's. Purple Gang
should) stand in bold relief as another
proof of the undeniable fact that CRIME
DOES NOT PAY!

Page 5)

ping Turner gave him. That would give
the motive for the murder. And there is
also a motive for the mutilation of Mrs.
Turner. We discovered ‘from his ex-wife
that Roy has certain irregular tendencies
in connection with sex.

“Another thing: From our experience
of observing such work, it appears that
the murderer had some knowledge of sur-
gery. Now Roy, according to his ex-wife,
was in the Medical Corps of the Army
in France. Further, he once rented an
office in Shreveport, Louisiana, in which
to practice medicine. She said he often
boasted of his knowledge of medicine and
surgery.”

“This is, indeed, startling informa-
tion,” | replied.

“Yes,” IKennon answered. “It forms a
Strong chain of circumstances against
Rufus Lee Roy.”

“What do you make of Turner's watch
and pocket-knife being stolen?” | asked.

“Nothing.” the — detective answered
quickly. “It was just done on impulse.
It has no importance as a motive.”

“Then you think Roy is our man?” |
wanted to know.

“It is entirely possible,” Kennon  an-
swered. “Indeed, | believe so. When his
passions are excited, a pervert is capable
of just such a crime, | had almost for-
gotten to tell you this,” Detective Ken-
non added: “Mrs, Roy told us that Roy,
in 1932, owned a .38 calibre pistol, but
pawned it to a man in McGehee, Arkan-
sas. Ile may have gotten it out—she
didn’t know.”

<ciaaenaastanstniatisathaoncteaenn
Sense :
roo
Aan

ae

ae
ee

were

ee

After this talk with the detectives, 1
called Chief Inspector’ Will Griffin, He
allered to cooperate with me in every
way. He advised his men to remain in
Cleveland until they had gathered every
bit af evidence powible,

On Tuesday, December 11, Detectives
Soloman and Kennon, in company with
Deputies Davin and Pearman, were
searching for clews in the neighborhood of
the murder cottage when they came to a
little vacant house about two blocks from
Turner's. They enquired about it from
a neighbor and learned that a man and
woman had occupied it for a short time,
but had moved out Sunday after the
murder. The men decided to inspect the
place. They found a back window open,
and Davis, the smallest of the four,
crawled in and opened the door, Then
the oflicers began to look through the
house.

Deputy Sheriff Pearman, in the front
room, thought he would poke in the ashes
in the fireplace. Suddenly his eyes
popped, and he cried out: “Great Heav-
ens—what’s this!”

The others ran to him. They beheld
a charred chunk of meat!

Quickly the men secured a mace of
newspaper, wrapped up_ their and
oe with it to my office. Meee

I sent out an order for the arrest of
: man and woman who, we discovered,
were strangers in Cleveland. Then |
‘rushed the charred meat to the el
of Investigation, Washington, D. C., f
analysis, to determine whether it was eo
man flesh. We had no idea how the peo-
ple fitted into the picture, if they fitted
at all, with Roy; but we were overlooking
no bets whatsoever.

This new discovery threw the people of ©

Cleveland into a fresh frenzy of, horror,
and also a greater activity in their
hunt for clews.

Now, during the next forty-eight hours,
with the excellent help of Inspector
Griffin, we were bending every effort to

Of Official Detective Stories, published inonth-
ly at Chicago, Illinois, for October Ist, 1935.

State of Illinois, County of Cook, ss:

Before me, a Notary in and for the State and
county aforesaid, personally appeared 8, ©, Cris-
tol, who, having been duly sworn acrerdiug to
law, deposes and says that he is the Business Man-
ager of the Official Detective Stories and that
the following is, fo the best of his knowledge and
belief, a true statement of the ownership, manage-
ment "(and if a daily paper,'the circulation), ete.,
of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in
the above caption, required by the Act of August
24, 1912, embodied in section 411,. Postal Laws
and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this

rm, to. wit:

1, That the’ names and addresses of the publish-
er, Mateo managing editor, and business man-
agers

Publisher, Official Detective Stories, Inc,, 731
Plymouth Court, Chieago, Il.

Se te H. A. Keller, 731 Plymouth Court, Chi-
cago,

Managing Editor, H, A. Keller, 731 Plymouth
Court, Chicago, Il.

Business Manager, 8, C, Cristol, 731 Plymouth
Court, Chieago, M1.

2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corpora-
tion, its name and address must be stated and
also immediately thereunder the names and ad-
dresses of stockholders owning or holding one per
cent or more of total amount of stock. If not
owned by a corporation, the names and addresses
of the individual owners muxt be given. If
owned by a firm, rend add or other unincorporated
concern, its name and address, as well as those of
each individual member, must be given.) Official
Detective Stories, Inc., whose sole stockholder is
the A, B. & M. Corporation, the latter corporation
being owned entirely by The Cecelia Company
whose stockholders are KE, A. Simon, A. W, Kruse,
PY, Krancer, BK. Bensinger, M, L, Annenberg, 1,
Howard, KE. Friede, W. H. Annenberg, Hl, Ames
and J. A, Kahn, all at 441 Plymouth Ct., Chi-
cago, Il.

3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and

other security holders owning or holding 1° per
cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages,
or other securities are: (If there are none, so
state.) None,
4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving
the names of the owners, stockholders, and secur-
ity holders, if any, contain not only the list of
stockholders and security holders as they appear
upon the books of the company but also, in cases
where the stockholder or security holder appears
upon the books of the company as trustee or in
any other fiduciary relation, the name of the per-
son or corporation for whom such trustee is acting,
is given; also that the said two paragraphs con-
tain statements embracing afflant's fall knowledge
and belief as to the circumstances and conditions
under which stockhoMers and security holders
who do not appear upon the books of the company
as trustees, hold stock and securities in a ca-
pacity other than that of a bona fide owner;
and this affiant has no reason to believe that any
other person, association, or corporation has any
interest direct or indirect in the said stock, bonds,
or other securities than as so stated by him,

h. That the average number of copies of each
ixssne of this publication sold or distributed,
throngh the mails or otherwise, to paid subscrib-
ers during the twelve months preceding the date
shown above is.......... (This information is re-
aus car Many publications only.)

(signed) 8S. ©. CRISTOL, Business Manager,

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 28th
day ef September, 1935. MARION EF. SPIRO,

(My Commission expires May 9th, 1939.)

apprehend the suspected murderer, Rutus

we Roy; and at the end of this time, we
haul Latte hed ane of the greatest mucnees
investigations the South ever had known,

From the U.S, Public Health Service
Hospital in Alexandiit, Petbaaia, we tad
learned that Koy was afllicted with pul-
monary tuberculosis and had been treated
for clementio paren We tad wired the
Veterans’ Bureau at Washington and re-
quested them to notify us if the suspect
had) communicated with the | Bureau,
From the War Department: we had ob-
tained a record of addresses where Roy
had received his compensation: checks in
various cities in Arkansas, Mississippi,
‘Tennessee, Kentucky and Louisiana; and
we had sent) the postaiasters in these
cities specimens of Roy's handwriting ob-
tained from letters to his ex-wife which
she had given us, and requested the post-
masters to watch for letters from Roy
to these addresses asking about his mail
or the like.

In addition to this we had dispatched
for examination and report, the canvas
glove, the single hair found in the glove,
and the 38 bullet, all to the Department
of Investigation. At the start) Inspector
Griffin had wired J. Edgar Hoover, head
of the Department, and Mr. Hoover had
assured the Inspector that he would do
all in his power, free of cost, to help us.

On December 14 we had one of our
clews shot full of holes. Hearing of our
search for them, the couple of the vacant
house meat mystery hurried to my office
to clear things up. The meat, they
proved to us, was a beef roast! This was
substantiated when the report: from the
Department of Investigation came in to
me.

On the same day Doctor J. D. Kear-
ney, a Cleveland physician, started us on
another clew when he came to my office
and said: “Sheriff McLean, there's a
Ford coupe parked near my home since
directly after the murder. | believe it's
been abandoned. It may be. connected
somehow with the crime. The street
where it’s parked, = know, is not far
from the Turners’ home.”

I thanked the Doctor, called Chief
Deputy Dickson and hurried to the loca-
tion. Here | found a green Ford coupe,
bearing Mississippi tag 125462. Investi-
gating, we discovered the door unlocked
and the ignition key in the switch. The
car, however, refused to start.

“It's possible the car belonged to the
murderer,” Deputy Dickson said. “It
may have failed on him, and in his haste
to escape he abandoned it.”

“It seems reasonable,” | answered. “I’m
going to have, it towed in. It may lead
to something.”

Then came a discovery. While speak-
ing, | was searching in the car pockets.
Now | drew out a road map of Missis-
sippi, Arkansas and Louisiana, There was
something written on the map—the word
copyright repeated four times in’ a
column.

Suddenly the writing seemed to leap up
at me. “Look here, Dickson!” 1 ex-
claimed. “Do you recognize this hand-
writing?”

Deputy Dickson studied the map, then
declared: “Good Lord, it’s Rufus Lee
Roy’s! But let’s get our specimens to be
certain.”

We hurried to my car and sent it racing
back to the office. ‘There, with one of
Roy’s letters, we made the comparison.
They both ob rong identical! “Who else
but Roy could own the car?” | demanded.

Immediately | wired the Motor Vehicle
Department at Jackson requesting all. in-
formation on the car. Then | had it
towed to the court-house. Within a short
time several people inspected it and de-
clared it closely resembled the one that
Roy owned. Here, now, was an additional
link in the chain of circumstances con-
necting Roy with the crime!

When the information from the Motor
Vehicle Department came, however, Roy's
name did not appear in it. The car had
been bought by Miss Myrtle Gillis of
Vicksburg, Mississippi, and later traded
to the Ford Motor Company, and finally
sold) to one Commodore Richardson,
Negro, of Vicksburg, to whom it was now
registered. Thus we were involved in a
new mystery.

A wire to the Vicksburg police brought
us the information that Richardson lived
there, had a police record, but could not
be found in the city at present,

We tell that the car had an important
history, Tlow had ao map which bad once

Freer ta Thay ss pascessnen yrotten nite the
Negio’s care replys Kay tae pun
chased it recently fram the owner and had
Hob oveb team dercedd tlie Tera The

thing baffled us, yet we could do nothing
about it for the menment

A tittle Tater nay Meribel Pteparty AY
I. Me Neil cieme ante miy othee wath oa
38 calibre revolver, “Ll got) this) from
(OH Who ontde te promise net tao men
tion his name unless the gun proved to
he the murder weapon. tle bought at
from two ptels here ia Cleveland whoo are
questionable characters and triends of
Roy's. Teomay be that he left the pun
with the women, though they charm net”

After MeNeil, | had another caller; and
this man was the first to see, and later de-
velop, an altogether new dine of investi«
gation in’ the batlling murder mystery.
Postmaster Park, of Merigold, drove to
Cleveland and hastened to my oflice.

“Doctor Mel ean,” Mr. Park began,
“have you specimens here of Roy's hand-
writing?’

“Yes,” TL answered quickly. “Why?”

Po reached ino my desk and brought out
one of Roy's letters to his wife.

“Had vou ever thought, Doctor,” Mr.
Park asked, “that perhaps the degenerate
who wrote the obscene letters murdered
the Turners? Both the letter writing and
the murder are certainly the work of the
same kind of fiend.”

The thing struck me with the force of
a physical blow, And yet none of us had
thought of it! [| leaned forward tensely
and asked: “Where are the obscene
letters?”

Park laid the letter and note on my
desk. Quickly T put Roy’s letter beside
them. But the time had not yet come
when this new clew meant anything to us,
and instant disappointment followed our
comparison, ‘The writings were not at all
alike.

Park exclaimed: “I'd have sworn the
writer of this obscene stuff was the mur-
derer! I’ve been thinking about it ever
since the crime was explained by the
Memphis detectives.” He was keenly dis-
dppointed, He added: “Estill, believe
I’m right. ‘There's some mystery here.
Are you certain of Roy’s guilt?”

“Everything points to it,” | replied.
“OF course. he may have disguised his
writing in the note, if he wrote it. We
are neither of us handwriting experts;
and we have only the few words scribbled
in the note to go by. The letter is print-
ed, and we can't judge by that.”

“TL still believe the writer of this note
and letter is the murderer,” Mr. Park de-
clared with conviction. "So if Roy is the
murderer, then this note must be his
writing, disguised.”

“That may be,” 1 answered, again
studving the note. “As I said, we are not
qualified to say from the note. At any
rate, Roy is guilty of the crime.”

Before Park left, however, we decided
to send tracings of the note and letter to
the Department of Investigation for an
opinion, Park then took the note and the
obscene letter and returned to Merigold.

Little did | realize the vast significance
that Postmaster Park’s visit was to prove
in our investigation and solution of the
murder!

The next) day, December 16, arrived
with all Cleveland, as well as us officers
tensely awaiting word of Roy's arrest,
Tips from everywhere were now pouring
in on us—but the day passed without
bringing word of such an arrest.

Then on December 17, like a bolt from
the sky, came the great moment! A
telegram from Inspector Griffin read:

RUFUS LEE ROY WANTED BY YOU

FOR DOUBLE MURDER DECEMBER 8 IN

CUSTODY POLICE SHREVEFORT, LOUISI-

ANA STOP WOULD LIKE HIM BROUGHT

TO MEMPHIS BEFORE BEING QUES-

TIONED ANSWER

Was Rufus Lee Roy really
guilty of the foul crime? In
the next isswe of OFFICIAL
DETECTIVE STORIES,
dated January and on sale
December 1, you will find a
denouement as slag ggering as
was the crime. Don’t miss it!

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Orders from Foreian Counts


200 Look Away!

would mean a massacre, that orders must be followed to
the letter.

Each company was instructed to practice donning and
doffing gas masks, and was polished in the fine art of hand-
grenade throwing. Until midnight the soldiers, shiver-
ing in the bitter cold of a bleak Mississippi winter,
practiced the arts of killing just to protect one prisoner.

I go into these details merely to show to what lengths
southern states often go to save Negroes from lynchings
although their deaths are inevitable.

Shortly after midnight a special train rolled to the main
line of the Illinois Central. It carried two baggage cars
and a flock of day coaches. Most of the soldiers were
stationed in the day coaches but special guards kept mov-
ing about the train with torches, examining every corner
to see that no strangers were around.

One company marched rapidly to the jail. Big Willie
was brought from the jail to an automobile. He was
chained from head to foot, literally wrapped in shackles.
He grinned broadly at the soldiers. ,

He was thrown into the car. The militiamen formed a
cordon around it and escorted him to the station. Quickly
he was hurled, a huge bundle of yellow flesh and clank-
ing chains, from the seat of the car to the floor of a bag-
gage coach. Doors of both baggage coaches were closed.
One was a blind coach, a decoy. In the other Big Willie

was chained to the wall while sentinels kept their bayonets
almost in his stomach.

The Story of Big Willie 201

The engine grumbled her going-away signal, flashed
her lights, and headed north for De Soto County where
Big Willie used to plow cotton and pet mules. The train
panted to a stop. The militia formed a phalanx for Big
Willie and he was tossed into a steel truck and hurried to
the jail. The six hundred soldiers, a small army, paced the
fortified area and kept the howling mob on the go. Shortly
after dawn, Big Willie was brought from the jail to the
courthouse, where he was indicted before noon.

The mob, several thousand men, women, and children,
milled around outside the barbed wire entanglements and
screamed for his blood. The militiamen made no effort to
stop the shrieks. Their only concern was to prevent blood-
shed. By noon, the mob was full of hate and whiskey. Men
reeled through the crowds shouting insults at the soldiers:

: ah.
“You God damn’ niggah lovers, let us have him. S’pose.

he had killed your ma and pa?”

The soldiers, still on emergency rations and footsore
and weary and cold, were sorely pressed to retain their
poise. Many of the militiamen were just kids, high-school
boys. A careless move, a chance remark by one of them,
would have started a wholesale slaughter. But the little
fellows just bit their blue frozen lips and took the insults.
Most of them wished they were home.

About one o’clock Big Willie was brought to trial. The
militia was instructed to allow enough spectators to pass
the barbed wire entanglement to fill the courtroom. The
officers stood at the entrance and checked each applicant.


« ee een ee

e<ememremennisaons

202 3 Look Away!

He was searched and questioned. A huge knife was taken
from one man. The man was thrown out. That caused a
snarl among the pack.

The little courtroom was jammed quickly. The sol-
diers, taut behind their machine-guns and supply of gren-
ades and bombs, never let their eyes leave the mob while
the jury was selected. The first twelve men called were
chosen as Big Willie’s peers. It took three minutes to get
the jury. The court told the Negro to stand and plead.

“Guilty or not guilty,” the bench asked.

“T’se guilty, boss,” Big Willie said.

' “You can’t plead guilty to murder,” the court reminded

im.

“Den how come you ask me if’n I’ ilty?” i
Big Willie, befuddled eee ae

A “not guilty” plea was entered.

“Have you a counsel?”

“What’s dat?” asked Big Willie.

“Have you a lawyer?”

“I don’t want no lawyer. I done it and le’s git it over
with. I knows I got to die.”

The court appointed two lawyers for the defense. The
state’s evidence was brief and Big Willie took the stand.
He told the whole story, a horribly gruesome thing. There
was no plea of insanity. Big Willie almost was proud of
himself as he talked. He told of his mules and his cotton
and how much land he could “bust” and how many bales

So aa

7 RS
RAR ge 7 age q
SO, ; 7

sites

The Story of Big Willie 203

he could make and how many hogs he could kill in a
Chicago slaughter house, and how he went in for “good
timing” and how he came to this at the end of the furrow,
the long row from a cabin in the cotton to a scaffold in
the oaks. :

The jury was out only four minutes, and, of course,
found him guilty. There was no appeal. The militia threw
a bodyguard of steel and gunpowder around Big Willie
and took him back to Jackson.

A smaller detachment fetched him to Hernando again
for the last time a few weeks later and they, hanged Willie
with a cotton rope, the same kind of rope as his plow
traces on the middle buster he used to follow.

The public ire still was so aroused that it was necessary
to leave his body in a public place so the crowds could’see
it and know that Big Willie really was dead.

Soldiers who drew two dollars and forty cents a day to
preserve Big Willie for the cotton rope were glad to get
home, particularly that Laurel company. It is a whole
lot colder in De Soto County than in Jones County, and
the Laurel boys were chilled to the bone when they got
back to their neck of the woods. They left Jackson in a
special bus and headed down the old highway along the
G. & S. L—“God Save Ireland”—railroad. They began
counting mile posts when they reached D’Lo, so named
because land there is so “damn low.” Rounding a big
bend just at dawn, they came to Magee.

Jue latin edger 5-/b- (5997 / S

- HANGIRG AT GREENVILLE.

doe Robicsen, Galored, Paye the
| Pensity for Marder.

Special te the Clarien- miger:

Greenville, Miss., May 16- Joe Rob-
ineon, colored, was banged here today
for the wurdes of Lillie Smith at Glen
‘Allen, in thiaovunty, jest April.

i Cikimed shat the sbooting
toat killed bis victim was accidentel,
‘but acknowledged that they qoarreled
‘becaase abe ‘got religion. fe oe |

)


ROBERSON, William, hanged at Holmesville, Mississippi, on November 8, 1856

"William Roberson, who murdered Franklin Williams, with the aid of the murdered man's wife,
was executed at Holmesville, Miss, on the 8th inst. (11-8-1856), The condemned man, it
appears, addressed the crowd from the scaffold, endeavoring to awaken their sympathies in
his behalf, and closed his long and very incoherent harangue with an appeal to them to
manifest a desire that he should be remanded to jail and have a new trials; in furtherance
of which he requested thosein favor of his proposition to stand aloof from the crowd, as

he felt assured the Sheriff would not proceed with the execution if the popular sentiment
should be found to be against it, The apparent aquieseence to the Sheriff to this star-
tling and unusual proceeding stirred the crowd to an exhibition of some little excitement,
and cries of 'New trial!’ 'Hang.him!', 'Hang him§' were heard on both sides, and for a
moment we feared mob law would run riot around the very precinct of our courts of justice,
"The announcement of the Sheriff, however, made to the prisoner that he could expect nothe
ing from thepeople ih this emergency, however much his own or their sympahties were evinced
for him, and his proceeding at once with his duty accordingly, que@led the rising tumult,
and it wasnot until this moment that the prisoner appeared to look death in the face, His
cheek blanched = his frame shook with tremor - his limbs trembled, and he fell upon his
nees and buried his face in his hands, while the attending minister, Dr. Laney, approached
him upon the scaffold, in performance of his last sad duty, and kneeling beside the prisoner,
with his hand upon his bowed head, sent up in his behalf an impressive appeal to Heaven,
After this solemn service, the prisoner continued upon his knees until the moment he was
launched into eternity." TIMES, New York, N. Y., 11-20-1856 (1.))

The following from NEWS BY MAIL, NEW YORK TIMES, 11-28-1856 (6/3): "William Robertson,
sentenced last Spring in Pike County, Miss,, for killing Franklin Williams, was hung in
Homesville on the 23rd of last month (which would make it Oct. 23, 1856), He spoke for
some two hours to the crowd, trying to excite their sympathies for him, and then requested
all those who desired his pardon and releast bo manifest it, but received in response the
cry 'Hang Him, Hang him,' = which was accordingly done."

RIGGS, James, hanged Aberdeen, MS July 16, 1856

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ROBERTS, Houston, white, 55, Jackson, Mississippi, March 22,1951. | E ce

"Houston Roberts, 55-year-old Jackson white man,, murdered his five year old granddaughter
by placing poison in her medicine and must die for the crime on March 22, the State
Supreme Court ruled Monday. In so doing, the High court turned down Roberts appeal from
the Hinds circuit court conviction and death sente nce, Roberts’! Case, according to
Presiding Justice W. Ge Raqberts, who wrote the opinion, 'llustrates ina very
pointed and practical manner the truth that "the wages of sin is death." All in all,
his guiltor his innocence, his sanity or insanity, his knowledge or lack of knowledge.
that he was doing wrong in administering these deadly drugs to his helpless child were.
questions for the jury,' Judge Roberds wrote, 'They decided against him, He hada
fair trial,'° He was ably represented.' © Roberts, who-acquired the general name of
'bluebeard! during the murder trial which shocked the state and nation, was. found guilty
of murdering little Mary Louise Hill, by giving her poison in capsules in June, 1919,
She died at’the Baptist hospital here on July 16, 1949 9. Roberts confessed he killed her
to collect insurance on her life, Roberts confessed to the crime while under inves=
tigation for the attempted poisoning of .another granddaughter, three-year-old Shirley
\ Ann Hill. Presiding Justice’.Roberds wrote regarding Roberts' confession in the death of
Mary-Louise: ‘He was haunted by the approaching shadow of.hisrcrime,' Roberts also

orally admitted that he murdered ‘the first, two of his four wives. by poisoning them with
strychnine from thes ame bottle, The first wife died as the result of strychnine placed
in her medicine, Roberts admitted. The second, he said, died after he gave her an, ice
cream cone containing strychnine, while she was a patient at the State Charity hospital

- here,» Roberts was divorced-by Wives No,~3 and ), .The decision ruled that Roberts!

. confession was admissible, explaining that it had been. made without threats. or promises
and was witnessed to by Dr. WD. Hudgins, pastor of the First Baptist church here,
The court held further that there was sufficient evidence without the confession to
convict Roberts beyond KH@ a reasonable doubt, The. appeal was arued before the Supreme
Court. by Forrest.Jackson, local attorney appointed by the court to represent Roberts,
and by Attorney Genera]: J. Pe Coleman, representing the State. Regarding other. points
in the appellant's assignment of errors, the Supreme Court held:'(1.) It was not nece=
ssary for,the court to obtain Roberts! permission for the exhuming of the body of Mary
Louise, since he was not a parent of the childs neither was he. owner of the plot of

' ground in Hopewell cemetery, Jeff Davis County, in which the body was buried... (2¢)
The venue of the crime was established as 81 South Gallatin Street, Jackson, where
Roberts and his daughter, Mrs, Gladys Hill, ran a roming house. (34. Houston Roberts
knows the difference between right and wrong and according to the legal definition of
sanity is tnerefore not insane." DAILY NEWS, Jackson, Misse, 2-12-1951 (1/2&3)

"By Jimmy Ward, = Houston Roberts died early this morning with something on his minds
Whatever it was, he didn't want it published,, In his final moments, the convicted mur-
derer of his tiny granddaughter neither compelekely denied nor affirmed his participation
in the shocking poison death of Mary Louise Hill, Roberts did, however, declare that he
had been 'railroaded.' , He also blamed newspapers for his doom ... He said the press had

é written "too much’ about him, Roberts,’ clad in blue denim trousers, tan shoes, and
strait-ejacket, talked beiefly with reporters in his deach cell before he rode the elevator
to the chilly basement of the Hinds county courthouse to become the 90th person to die in
the state's portable electric chair. Bestide him, either sat or stood, the Reve Se We
Valentine of South Side Baptist Church; R. T. Hegwood, a deacon in that church; the Rev.
Te Me Dye of the Madison Methodist Church, who had: spent the day praying with Roberts;
Jailer J. C. Landrum, two, fellow prisoners who were religiously inclined, and two news-
men, Twitching nerviously in the strait-jacket, Roberts confirmed statements by the
ministers’ that he hdd made ‘peace with his Maker,' and said he was 'railraoded' for his
part in the crime, He did not elaborate on what he meant by, his 'part.' Asked if he would
reveal his thoughts for the last’ few minutes, Roberts said he had been "thinking of some=-
thing," but declined to give an inkling of his thoughts to reporters, Then, apologizing
to the newsmen, he said: 'I don't mean to cut you off but you folks have written enough
alreadye' Asked if he had read what the newspapers said about him, Roberts stated he could
neither read nor write but that stores about him had been read to him, During the conver-

f , ‘ ‘ ;
sation Roberts shifteed nervously, his tan shoes making non-rh ic and .even, motononou
pats on the cell's concrete floors His left writst, which he Peeled with a concealed

razor blade in an effort to take his own life, was wrapped in white. adhesive tapes

At times Roberts wiped his perspiring brow with the harsh broadcloth jacket that con-
fined his arms. Except for:his shaven head and-a pallor from his long tentre in the |
sunless jail, Roberts had not changed much physically from the day in 199 that he sat
in the office of Chief of Police Joel De Holden when he confessed to police and a Bap-=
tist minister, Dr. We. Douglas Hudgins, that he had killed his granddaughter and tried to
poison another child, also his daughter's daughter. At midnight last night, Sheriff
Albert Jones, Deputies Bob Thomas and Je Ce Kelly walked tothe door of the death cell.
Roberts, whose final plea for clemency before Gov, Fielding L. Wright was based on in-
samity, rose quicly from his bunk beside the jail bars. He looked the officers straight
in the face = beads of perspiration pyriamided’ his browne He halted fora mement = and
without a word of instruction = walked wordessly through the jail door, -His trousers
drooped from his hips. A deputy lifted ‘the garment and tightened his belt:'to hold the
trousers fasts Asked Roberts 'There aren't any ladies down there, is there?! The -
doomed prisoner then turned to Sheriff Jones and said: 'I agn't asked any favor of you '
yet = would you ttake these off me?! Roberts motioned to the strait jacket, The -
sheriff agreed. At the elevators Sheriff gones and Deputy Thomas took the jacked from
the prisoner. In the crowded elevator, the Rev. Dye placed a hand on Roberts’ left
shoulder and prayed: 'Gody have mercy on Houston's soul.' Those were the ohly words
spoken on that short 'ride,' Eighteen people were gathered in the small room with
Houston Roberts. At KX¥GJ 12:03 asm, he walked = again without prior instruction -
into the electric chair. He gave a mysterious half-smile into the faces of KMAXXR —
YXXHERXARY those witnesses, He looked up at Sheriff Jones and said: 'Bye, byee..' (Some
other words were inautiible,) As attendants s trapped-his body and wraped a mask about
his haggard face, he flinched, He look down, shook his feet and asked- quietly, ‘Want
my shoes?! (Rev. Dye claimed the shoes to turn-them over to Mims Mitchell, the under=
taker, apparently filling a prior agreement.) And Houston Roberts sat rady for eternity.
The shock came = just once = and witnesses said the chair-roeked backward, But there was
no smoke, no odor. And the 16 remaining witnesses (two had eased into an anteroom)
posed in stark, hypnotic silence for possibly 2 or 3 minutes, maybe more = maybe less.
From the ante-room stepped two physicians, ,Dr. Ben Walker and Dr. He CG. Sheffield,
Dr. Walker felt ‘the pulse-of the maskéd figure inthe chair. -Dr. Sheffied@ put a
stethoscope £o the man's chest. The contact ketween metal and flesh left a white-rimmed
circle, 'He is dead,' said Dr. Sheffield, At 12:13 a.m. a motor was cut off, It
was the humming generator that had killed Houston Roberts. It left the room eerily
quiet; In‘robled a cot by Mims Mitchell<and his funeral home attendant. They straightened
out Roberts! left leg, covered him with a white sheet and a pink chenile spread, The
crowd, too, departed, *C. W. Watson of Jackson who has held the job of executioner since
July of 193 began to dismantle the electrid chair, He said it would take 0 minutes.
He said this was the 90th person to die in that chair and the 78th KMMEXH# to die by
his hand for the State of Mississippi. He said Houston Roberts behaved ‘about like the
rest of them.! The Reve Dye, one of the last to leave the room, said he had given to
Mims Mitchell the shoes of Houston Roberts, He said he didn't know what, time the
funeral would be held today, but he would be there, The Rev. Dye said he didn't know
what Houston Roberts had on his mind in his deathcell, Rev. Dye said he didn't care
who or what a man was or had been, if he wanted toaccept Christ, nothing else’ mattered."
DAILY NEWS, Jackson, Mississippi, Marféh, 22, 1951 (1:h, 5 & 6). Photograph of Roberts
with two deputy sheriffs, . ‘ -

"Houston Roberts, l3eyear-old white man,. who is scheduled to walk his ‘last mile! to

the state's portable electric chair, shortly after midnight was composed and resigned to
his'f ate in Hinds County Jail here Wednesday, He had slashed his wrists with a double-
edged razor blade in the ddath cell ‘shortly after noon Saturday, but, was apparently 'in
good spirits! Wednesday jail officials said. The blade had been concealed in between,

the soles of his shoe before he was moved into the death cell late Friday. County offi-
cials tried to keep it quiet, Jailer J. C. Landrum said Roberts had asked for oysters for
“XMHAM lunch and steak for supper. Rev. Se We Valentine of South Side Baptist Church
visited Roberts Tuesday night and talked with him again during the day. Rev. Dye, Methodist
minister of Madison Sation and Pocahon&as, was expected to spend most. of Wednesday and
Wednesday night with the condemned man. Konhene of his family were admitted to see

Roberts during the day, since Wednesday is regular visiting day in the jail. Rev. Valentine
was quoted as saying that Roberts tofid him he is "ready to go," The doomed man has been
placed in a strait eS to prevent further attempts on his life, Sheriff Albert Jones
revealed Tuesday. is injuries from slashing both wrists were apparently not serious.

Roberts is scheduled to die in the lectric chair for the poisoning of his S-yeareold

20

medicine. The young mother summoned
the family physician. ‘
The doctor had found Mary Louise’s
illness puzzling: enough, finally diagnos-
ing it as encephalitis, a disease that was
sweeping the South. Nothing else seemed
to correspond with the symptoms, one of
which was a deep coma. But Shirley
Ann’s. sickness was even more mystify-
ing. Disturbed, the physician. had her
removed to St. Dominic’s Hospital. In a

few days, she seemed to recover as mys- .

teriously as she had been stricken, and
was returned home.

However, Mrs. Hill’s ex-GI lodger,
B. K. Tally, noticed that the child was
missing from her usual play place in the
front yard when he returned the after-
noon of October 19. Mounting the front
porch, he dropped his lanky figure into
a chair and lighted. a cigarette just as
two of the young women roomers came
out of the house. Pert Jewel Hutchins
leaned against a porch rail. .

“Gladys and her father took Shirley’
Ann back to the hospital today,” she an-
nounced. “Shirley Ann’s worse again.”

Tally started. “What’s that? There’s
something screwy about that child’s sick-
ness.”

“You're telling us!” snapped tall,
olive-skinned Rose Morrison. “Why don’t
you speak to Mr. Roberts?”

Tally ran a hand through his black
hair. “I tried to,” he said. “But.what
can you do with a guy that just looks at
you as though he isn’t hearing a word,
you’re saying? You know that peculiar
look that’s been: growing on him ever
since Mary Louise died. Now he’s got
the idea that Shirley Ann’s got a bad heart
and is going to die. Can’t anybody talk
to him except Mrs. Lansdowne.” ‘

“That woman!’ Miss Hutchins sniffed.
“She can -wind him around her, finger,
but she’s the last person I’d‘go to.¥

“But we’ve got to do something,” Miss
Morrison said. “If you ask me, that kid’s
being poisoned !”

Tally shuddered as he realized the same
idea had been in the back of his mind.
But you can’t go to a woman, he thought,
and say, “Your child is being murdered!”
Not without proof. But something was
wrong in the house. Houston Roberts
had been strangely sick for:three or four
days, and another male lodger had de-
veloped the same symptoms.as Shirley
Ann, then as suddenly recovered.

“Here’s something else,” Rose Morri-
son continued, “Right after Shirley Ann
had one of her bad spells, a neighbor
gave her a hamburger and milk. The
child kept that down!”

Tally tossed: away his cigarette. “Have
you girls talked to Gladys Hill?” he asked.

Jewel Hutchins shook her head.

“Okay;” Tally said. “I’m going to the
cops tomorrow. And I want you two to
back me up.” - |

In the office of Chief Joel D, Holden
at police headquarters the next morning,
Detective Lieutenant Eddie L: Browne,

Detective S. B. Barnes. and Holden lis-~

tened to Tally’s story.. ‘
Browne lit a cigarette. “What I can’t

figure,” he said, “is why anybody’d want

to poison a child—maybe two children.”

“T didn’t say anyone did,” Tally pointed ©
out. “I just said somebody ought to.

THREE OF THE ROOMERS, (left to right)‘Rose Morrison, Jewel Hutchins and B. K. Tally.

’ guspected something amiss at Mrs. Hill’s boarding house. Tally went to the police.

investigate, Maybe nothing’s. wrong at
all, If they did get poison, it could have
been an accident. How do I know but
that ‘the stuff might have been planted
for somebody else, for that matter ?”

' Love Affair Bared

’ “You think somebody at that house
may. have an enemy. Is that it?” Barnes:
‘asked. ‘
“Who hasn’t?” Tally shrugged.
Browne guessed that Tally had more
on his mind than he was willing to re-
veal.» The detective lieutenant hoisted

himself from ‘his chair, his six-foot-plus -

frame dominating the room. .
“All right,” he said briskly., “I’m cu-
rious about this sweetheart of Roberts’.
. What’s she hike?” non
Tally related that Mrs.~Margaret Lans-
‘downe was about 40 years old, and the
. mother of seven children. She lived about
two blocks from Mrs. Hill’s rooming
~house and visited Roberts there almost
- every day while her own husband was
at work. Frequently, Tally added, the
‘woman and Roberts left the house. to-
gether and remained away for hours. ©
The three officers exchanged glances.
There was no proof yet of anything amiss
~about the illness of the two children, But
all of them realized the situation was
packed with dynamite. Chief Holden in-
structed Browne and Barnes to investi-
gate immediately. - -
“We have one break,” Barnes observed
as'they drove Tally back: to Mrs. Hill’s
rooming house. “Little Shirley Ann’s in

the hospital. So she should be safe for
a couple of days, anyhow.”
The officers found that Mrs.. Hill and

her father had gone to the hospital to

be at the little girl’s bedside. That gave
them a chance to question other occupants
of the house without unduly alarming
Shirley Ann’s mother and grandfather.
At the end of ‘an hour’s investigation,
Browne and Barnes decided that some-
body in the family had better be alarmed,
and quickly. aa

_While both investigators knew that
rooming-house gossip often had to be
heavily discounted, -they learned .enough
to realize that Mary Louise’s illness bore
a striking resemblance to Shirley Ann’s.
Although the younger child had not gone
into a coma, as Mary Louise had, the

-, other symptoms were the same—distended

abdomen, nausea and dull, racking pains.
What was more, the same symptoms had
marked the illness of Houston Roberts

-and ‘the male lodger, although in milder

form.

claimed when he and Barnes found them-
selves alone in the living room momen-
tarily. “I’m sure‘those two kids were
poisoned. It looks like Roberts and the
roomer got a dose of the same stuff!”

“But how did they get it?” Barnes de-
manded, “And can you figure anybody
deliberately poisoning a couple of little
girls?”

Browne thought a moment. “No,” he
said at last, “I can’t. Yet it’s my guess

that the roomer got his dose acciden-

“Tally’s right!” the lieutenant ex- .

Be
E

tally and tl
family was
That means
Roberts.”
“In that
wasn’t Mrs
That als
Browne’s 1
porch, the ti
and the two
learned tha
but that he
leans. The
hard worki
dren. So f:
a single ent
Houston
had _ plainly
mance with
women kne\
ous entang]
But they kn
illicit love
inhibited ‘in
from the h
declared, w
court or anc
visited him
obvious, th:
run of the
“Did Rol
with her hi
The your
Bob Lansdc
with a new
greatly conc
“So she’c
bital and co
snapped,


ock

ALLS of the Bap-
‘ht sifted across the
, as a faint breeze
i of Mexico ended
ther July day.

isolation ward, a
bed of little 5-year-
1. With deft, pro-
irse pulled back one

, then’ gently drew |

emaciated little fea-
-ross the bed at’ the
id grandfather.

slayer’s distorted mind,
wuise Hill was worth $630.

“Mary. Louise,”
dead.” rea
For a moment young Mrs. Gladys Hill

she annouriced, “is

stared vacantly, at the bed. With a numb:

gesture she. brushed back her honey-
colored hair. Then she wheeled and flung
herself into her father’s arms.

Broad-shouldered,: dark-browed Hous-.

ton Roberts was not a man who wept
easily, Scripture quotation and prayer
served him better when grief struck. But
suddenly he bowed his head and sobbed.
“Tf only her daddy had: been here

ANOTHER PAWN IN the murder-for-money plot, prétty 4-year-old -,
Shirley Ann Hill narrowly escaped succumbing to lethal medicine.

ren-’

yi

TRUSTINGLY, THEY CAME TO HIM—AND TASTED OF HIS POISON

~

with us,” the distraught mother, cried.
Roberts cleared his throat. “Her daddy
_ left you all flat,” he said sternly. “Never
.forgét that.” FIRE ; :
“But. why did this have to happen to
_my Mary Louise?” . “a
: -“Only the Lord knows,” Roberts an-
swered, His voice was grave, “ ‘My
house is left unto me desolate.’ First it

was Aletha, your mother; you were just

a little girl then. Next it was Etta.
Then Paw. Now poor. Mary Louise!”

_After the simple funeral, Mrs. Hill re- -

AFTER BURYING Mary Louise, Mrs. Gladys Hill showered her love
ow her ‘other daughter. But she, too, soon was strangely stricken.

turned to the routine of the rooming
house she operated at 641 South Gallatin

“Street, on Jackson’s south side. Now

both she and her father centered their

“caré and attention upon the dead child’s
~4-year-old sister, blue-eyed, chubby Shir-

ley Ann,

But early in October, Shirley: Ann de-
veloped. a racking cough. Mrs. Hill
treated the child with cough syrup and

-other remedies from the family medicine

chest: However, Shirley Ann could hold
nothing on her stomach, least of all

2 4s

19

ee

=

ROBERTS, White, electrocuted Jackson, Miss, 3-22-1951 = CONTINUED.

granddaughter, ‘lary Louise Hill, to collect insurance. He was convicted in Hinds Circuit
Court and sentenced in December, 199. Earlier this week, Governor Wright denied executive
clemency after a group of Simpson Gounty citizens called on the Governor and petititoned
him to commute the sentence. The g roupkpleaded that Roberts was mehhally incompetent but
the Governor left the decision tp to the trial judge, Harold Cox, who did not recommend
clemency. Oox said Roberts Wi has already had sanity tests," DAILY NEWS, Jackson,
Mississippi, March 21, 1951 Cis 2& 3)(Page 10}.

"By Frances Baker Briggs. - A Jackson woman torn between feeling for her father, convicted
of murdering her daughter and love for her 5eyear=old daughter he poisoned asked Governor
Wright to commute her father's sentence to life imprisonmmant, But Governor Wright refused
to intervene in the execution of Houston Robertse.e'A crime has been committed, and if
ever a man deserved to die for a crime he (Roberts) does,' “Wright told the Rev. Ge Ae
Calhoun of Hattiesburg, spokesman for Mrs, Gladys Hill, mother of the murdered child, and
other relatives. Present at the hearing Wednesday was 5-year-old Shirley Ann Hill,

sister of the murdered tot. Roberts confesséd to attempting to poison Shirley Ann Hill
and to the poison murder of Mary Louis, Also present at the hearing were Brit Roberts,

of Hattiesburg, and John Roberts, of Gulfport, the convicted man's brother and son, re=
spectively; Mrs. John Roberts and a Mr. English, friend of the family. The group of
relatives asked the governor for commutation on the contention that Houston Roberts was not
mentally competent. Governor ‘right expressed sympathy for Mrs, Hill, saying: 'I can
understand how you are torn betweenfeeling for your father and your child, But the

courts have ruled that knows the difference between right and wrong and I cannot inter-
vene, As sympathethts as I am, when a man kills aachhldd and attempts to kill another
like this one (gesturing toward little Shirley Ann) I have no sympathy for himes."

DAILY NEWS, Jackson, Misse, Mar, 21, 1951 (1:7&8)

"..,County jailer J. C. Landrum said Roberts, sentenced to die Thursday, had been a model
prisoner during the two years he has been a prisoner. He is veryqiet and cooperative
but has complained of severe headaches. The jailer said Roberts has been under the

care of aphysician since he was convicted in December, 1949, Roberts, former Covington
County farmer, was sentenced in December of 1989 to die for the death, by poisoning, of
his 5-year=-old granddaughter, “ary Louise Hill, in an attempt to collect her insurance.
He confessed to the murder of the child while being questioned for the attempted murder
of another granddaughter..eRoberts' state appointed attorney, Forest Jackson, of Jack=
son, contended that Roberts was insane and attempted to have him admitted to the state
hospital at WHEEREMMAX Whitfield..." DAILY NEWS, Jackson, Misse, Mar. 18, 1951 (3/1, Sece

he)

ROBERTS, Houston, white, elec. Jackson, MS on March 22, 1951.

{fer ye

cr

By Hugh V. Haddock

QUTSIPE THE WALLS of the Bap-
tist Hospital, twilight sifted across the
city of Jackson, Miss., as a faint breeze
from’ the distant Gulf of Mexico ended
the sultry heat of another July day.

In the hospital’s isolation ward, a
nurse leaned over the bed of little 5-year-
old Mary Louise Hill, With deft, pro-
fessional touch, the nurse pulled back one
of the child’s. eyelids, then’ gently drew
the sheet up over. the emaciated little fea-
tures. She glanced across the bed at the
little girl’s mother and grandfather.

IN THE CONFESSED slayer's distorted mind,

THIS MAN eaalved in én shees murders, But little Louise was
his try at No. 4 ticketed him for the chair.  casbaama ly og = opecdyraay

FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE, April, 1950

Sreerarererr

' “Mary
dead.”
For a m
stared vac;
gesture s]
colored ha:
herself int:
Broad-sl
ton Rober
easily, Sc
sefved him
suddenly h
“Tf onl

. ANOTHER P.

Shirley Ann |}


s and B, K. Tally.
ant to the police.

ould be safe for
hes

it Mrs.. Hill and
, the hospital to
lside, That gave
n other occupants
unduly alarming
and grandfather.
r’s investigation,
‘cided that some-
yetter be alarmed,

ators knew that
often had to be
y learned enough
itise’s illness bore
to Shirley Ann’s.
hild had not gone

Louise had, the
e same—distended
ull, racking pains.
me symptoms had
Houston Roberts
Ithough in milder

e lieutenant ex-
-arnes found them-
ing room momen-
se two kids were
2 Roberts and the
the same stuff !”

-et it?” Barnes de-
ou figure anybody
a couple of little

noment. ‘‘No,” he
Yet it’s my guess
his dose acciden-

tally and that somebody in Mrs. Hill’s
family was the real target—may still be.
That means either Mrs. Hill, herself, or
Roberta? A246 255 Oe a

_ “In that case,”
wasn’t Mrs.. Hill poisoned, too?”

That also was. the. big question in
Browne’s mind. Moving to the front
porch, the two detectives questioned Tally
and the.two young. women further... They
learned that Mrs. Hill was a divorcee,

“but that her husband lived in New: Or-
leans. The three lodgers described her as
hard working and devoted to her chil-
dren. So far as they -knew, she had not
a single enemy... . ‘

Houston ‘Roberts, on the other hand,
had plainly invited trouble with his ro-
mance with Mrs. Lansdowne. The young
‘women knew nothing of any other amor-
ous entanglements he might have had.
But they knew all the lurid details: of his
illicit love. affair and were entirely un-

inhibited’in telling them. His trips,away °

from the house with the woman, they
declared, were for trysts at one tourist
court or another. When Mrs.: Lansdowne

visited him. in his room it.was equally °
obvious, they, said, because she had the,

run of the house. .
“Did Roberts ever have any . trouble
with her husband?” Browne questioned.
The young women laughed derisively.
Bob Lansdowne, they said, was too busy
with a new romance of his: own to be.
greatly concerned with what his wife did.
“So she’d bring her box of phenobar-.
bital and come up here—” Miss Hutchins

snapped,

OFFICIALS LOOK ON as the body of 5-year-old Mary Louise is ex-- -
humed from its simple grave. Lab tests showed that she had died’

Barnes said, “why .

pbs aa COPS Be yeti
ee aS

- “Phenobarbital?” Barnes cut in. He
shot a quick glance at his partner as the

girls related that’ Mrs. Lansdowne: was -

addicted to phenobarbital “jags.”” ~*~
Both. officers had ‘had plenty. of expe-

rience -with “goof-ball artists.” What.

“was more, both remembered that Marty

.Louise’s first symptom had been a coma.

Was there any connection, they -won-

. dered? ,

Browne pushed the question to the
back of his mind, however, as he learned
of another visitor, a strange man who
had called for Houston ‘Roberts twice in
the Jatter’s absence. Both. times, when

Roberts learned of the -visit, he had be- .
come even more’ morose than uéual, the |

lodgers . related.’ They described the

stranger as about 50 years old, thin-~
li

loose-jointed, with a shock of

“silver hair and cold blue eyes. He had

declined to state either his name or his
business. - _ os 7 <
Suspecting that ‘the stranger might be

. someone out of: Roberts’ past, Browne
shifted the questioning in that direction. .

But Tally and the two women roomers
knew. little. of. the. man’s background.’
They said he was a widower. and that
he had come to Jackson: from Hopewell
community, about 75. miles southeast of
Jackson, near the town of Collins, Miss.:

‘Previously a farmer, they related, Rob-
erts had. come to the. city me a year
and a half previously and set Mrs. Hill
up in the .rooming-house business, He
was unemployed, -but managed to live,
keep himself in’ cheap whiskey and en-
tertain Mrs,--Landsdowne ona $20 check

—

- from arsenic polaoning and not a disease, as had been supposed.
These findings proved the clinching evidence against the killer.

which he received weekly. from-. some
source, ;

“I know the type, Eddie, and so do
you,” Barnes growled. “One of these lads
who can be pious as hell on occasion, but
who can have half a dozen mistresses. and
raise first-class Cain without a twinge
of conscience, I’d almost bet that what
has happened ¢enters around him.”

Traces Of Arsenic

\ Detective Browne was willing fo agree,

but he realized that, for all their sus-
picions, they had: not a single scrap of
evidence to prove that a murderer was
at work.

Speeding back to headquarters, Browne
telephoned Mrs. ‘Hill’s family physician.
The doctor admitted that he had at first
been inclined to blame Mary Louise’s
coma on an overdose of some sedative.

ir aria maybe?” Browhe sug-

“Phenobarbital could have ‘caused it,”
the doctor replied. “But what has all of
this to do with Shirley Ann?”

“Just this. Weé have reason to believe

‘that both children were poisoned! May-

be it’s an accident. Maybe not.”

The detective outlined what he had
learned. The shocked physician promised
Sieve laboratory tests run on Shirley

nm and to have her kept under close
surveillance at the hospital. +

Lieutenant Browne and Barnes found a
hospital report awaiting them when. they
reached headquarters the next morning.
It showed that little Shirley Ann Hill’s

‘system yielded (Continued on page 63)

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n

“What about Mrs. Lansdowne?” Detec- °

tive: Barnes countered. “She had the run
of the place.”

Browne thought a moment. “You could be
right,” he agreed, “though we don’t have
any evidence against her. But there’s one
way of getting at her Get in the car with

_ me.

Driving to Mrs. Hill’s rooming house,
they found Houston Roberts still in-his room.
Barnes picked up the man’s hat from the
bed and placed it on Roberts’ head. .

“You're going with us, my friend,” the
detective announced.

Roberts jumped to his feet. “What for?”

“Because,” Browne said, “you’re the fel-

low who actually gave the poison to Shirley «

Ann. It was in those medicine bottles. We've
got you dead to right!” ,

“My daughter- gave the kids’ medicine,
too!” Roberts protested. He was plainly
frightened. ‘

Arrested, and taken to the Hinds County
jail, Roberts talked, but only to ‘insist that
he had been an innocent dupe. What was
more, each time the questioning was turned
tq Mrs. Lansdowne and his’ relations with
her, he harped -on the supposed * curse

‘Jasper Sarno had laid on‘ him.

The next day was Sunday. Early in the
morning, Browne and Barnes drove to Hope-
well, where Jasper Sarno lived and where
little Mary Louise and Roberts’ two dead
wives were buried. Questioned, Sarno scoffed
at the idea that he had put a curse on
Roberts and emphatically disclaimed’ any
interest in Mrs. Hill. He was devoted to his
own wife. He said he had called on Houston
Roberts in Jackson solely to: collect some
money which he had lent his former neigh-
bor nearly two years before.

“Roberts made a bad error in feeding us
that yarn,” Browne said as he and Barnes
sat in their car after the interview. “I’m
getting more and more curious about his
past—and those dead wives.”

Following various leads, the officers by
midafternoon pieced out a. sordid story.
Long before they had finished they were
sure they knew the identity of the person
who had poisoned Mary Louise and Shirley
Ann Hill,

Despite Houston Roberts’ professed affec-
tion for his first wife, Browne: and Barnes
learned that he had actually grown tired

‘of. her a few months after the marriage.

Nevertheless, at the time of her operation
in August of 1931, he had made quite a fuss
over her, and had -insisted on taking her
home from the hospital as soon as’ possible.
That was where the attending physician
had found her a few days later, desperately
ill... But the: doctor, not Roberts, had been
responsible for her removal to Jackson’s
Charity Hospital, and despite all his efforts,
Aletha Roberts had died in. convulsions. .
The medical man’ suspected that she might
have eaten something that. disagreed with
her too soon after the operation. But he

|'abandoned the idea when he found that she

had taken only some ice ¢ream which her
husband had thoughtfully provided.
Soon ‘after her death, the officers learned,

“Houston Roberts collected her -$2,000 life

insurance. Then, using part of the money
to buy a car, he wooed pretty Etta McRaney
and. married her within the year.

: fay doctor who..had attended the first

ts. Roberts was called to the drafty old

‘farmhouse in January of 1933 to treat the

second. He found her: pregnant. and showing
symptoms of a heart. ailment, and sent her
to a hospital over. her husband’s protests.
Following .the birth-of the baby, Roberts

: took her. home again. There, in spite of the

parece assurances that .she wouldsoon
» well, Roberts insisted that Etta’ would
~ oa did: die, in convulsions, on January

Neighborhood tongues wagged over the
sinister coincidence of two deaths in less
than a year and a half. One woman said that
Etta Roberts had complained that the medi-
cine her“ husband-gave her-made-her ill. But
nothing came of the talk. -Roberts collected

DETECTIVES S. B, Bares (left) and E. L.
Browne examine one of the lethal medicine
bottles. These men broke Roberts and the case.

another $3,000 -life insurance on his second
wife and was promptly ready for matrimony
again. .

The officers discovered that Roberts: had
made two more marriages of which he had
told them, nothing. His third wife, people
related, left her bridegroom on their wedding
night. Wife No. 4 fled after living with him
only.a short time.

During the next few years, Roberts’ father

died and Roberts launched out on a quest.

for easy money as a substitute for work.
The officers learned that he had filed: suits
against a railroad for personal injuries, then
against a hospital where he had undergone
an operation. Neither came to trial. A little
later he was .tripped up when he attempted
to forge checks, and served time for it.
Now Browne and Barnes saw that Roberts’
gloomy prophecies about Shirley Ann fol-
lowed the same pattern as.those he had made
about’ Etta Roberts. There was one im-
portant difference: Etta Roberts had died.

The suspicions of neighbors had saved the

child. Had Roberts murdered one. grand-
daughter and attempted to. murder the-other
in his quest for easy-money? :
Rushing back to Jackson, the detectives
learned the next morning that. Shirley Ann’s
life had been heavily insured and that Ro-

iberts. had borrowed. money from _ several
lodgers’ to keep up the premiums. But in-

formation from the insurance -company sud-
denly upset the case they were carefully
building.

The beneficiary. of Shirley Ann’s life in-

‘surance, they learned; was not Houston

Roberts, but the child’s mother, Mrs. Gladys
Hill. What was more, Mrs. Hill had col-
lected $630 on a policy on the life of Mary
Louise. :

Told of the development, Chief Holden

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a aS

Munroe declared.
he sheriff’s depart-- —
le’s house Friday
ce in darkness. It
ternoon, December
home. Detective
, and Deputy Roy
ie house and were
le himself, a mild-
of 46. .
y observed that his
. scratches.
hed across his face
entified themselves.
ised and ill-at-ease
the spectacles and
were his.
nmered, the blood
Where did you find

here Pearl Walters
Austin said coldly.
ngle.”
-ed meekly and ac-
1 to Munroe’s office.
d at length by the
Jeagley.
recording the tor-
have chased through
ling proceeded. Here
e family, a school-
» children; a man
marked only by
drab little man
ink, laid an oc-:
a slightly better

as focused on every
ole future hinged on
. and the pressure
e the officers had to
he told his ving,
gged down by Mrs.
in the 700 block on
o'clock on the morn-
1 of agreeing to drive
‘rollton. He had been
himself that evening
of fuzzy but pleasant
his mind as he drove.
the intersection of
1 Roads, the woman
> car, which he did.
ioved a blunt object
his wallet. There was
{ Cecil Angle did not
without a fight. He
- continued, struggled
{ punching her with
lly, he knocked her.
ered his wallet and
his glasses, he ex-
ed at a roadside ditch
ids in a puddle of ice-

ittle stock in Angle’s
two days later their
d. Angle admitted the
ising his statement, he
z the fiendish beating
“criminal assault.

s immediately released
- guilt in the crime. A
igle with first degree
by Municipal Judge
ginaw on December 6,
8, following a Justice
e was bound over to

no further action has

mine the guilt or in-
red instructor who
ult of the 49-year-
mn.

‘o spare possible em-
vwocent person, the name
d in this narrative, is

$

=
<

‘ Roberts and Mrs.

“Suffer Ye
Little Children’

(Continued from page 21)

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Mary Louise Hill.................vietim
Shirley Ann Hill...............her sister
Mrs. Gladys Hill.........victim's mother
Houston Roberts.....victim's grandfather
Jasper Sarno........... seoees.@ farmer
Mrs. Margaret Lansdowne ; ‘
Roberts’ mistress
E. L. Browne..................detective
S. B, Barnes................+.detective
Joel D. Holden..............police chief

strong traces of arsenic!

“So help me,” Browne snapped, “I'll. send
the guilty person to the chair—or hand in
my badge.”

“And I'll be right along with you, Eddie.”
Barnes said. “There’s no possible way the
poisoning of those two'kids can add up to
accident.”

Detective Browne thought a moment,

then said, “I wonder why the killer, wanted
them out of the way?”
“T’d, give a lot to know,’ Barnes said.
Chief Holden was as disturbed as the

_ two detectives when. they told him what they
had learned. Mississippi has had more than.

its share of. blood-chilling crimes, but few
to equal the fiendishness of what Browne and
Barnes suspected. The chief immediately re-
lieved them of all routine duties, instructing
them to work full-time on the case.

“And don’t tip your hand,” ‘he cautioned.
“The inquiry. now centers on Shirley Ann.
If we don’t let on. that we suspect Mary
Louise was murdered, the poisoner may make
the break we need.”

The first move was to talk with the chil-
dren’s mother and grandfather, and the two
detectives hurried to Mrs. Hill’s rooming
house before either could leave for the
hospital. Both Mrs. Hill and Roberts, how-
ever, refused at first to believe that Shirley
Ann had: been poisoned. Roberts insisted
that the child had heart trouble.

“Stop that heart trouble foolishness!”.
Browne cut in. “We know that the «child
got arsenic. Now where did she get it?”

Mrs: Hill and, her father exchanged
blank stares. They declared that no poison
of any sort was kept around the house.
What was more, Shirley Ann’s food had been
precisely what they had eaten, themselves.

“What about medicine?” Browne asked.
“You gave her cough syrup, Mrs. ° Hill.
What else?”

“Nothing,” the young woman said. “I
swear: it!”

Roberts, however, said he had given the
child a dose of milk of magnesia ‘when her
stomach was upset, taking it from a bottle
he alone used.

In the bathroom, Browne found the two

bottles, along with another which ‘had ap--

parently contained cocoa-quinine. He stuffed
all three into his pockets: Barnes watched
Hill -closely, but they
seemed to take the action as a: matter of
course.

“What does Bob Lansdowne say about
your affair with his wife?” Browne de-
manded as he led Roberts back to the: liv-
ing room.

The sudden switch took the man entirely
off guard. “I don’t see where it matters in
this,” he replied after a moment. “But
there ain’t nothin’ between me and Mrs.
 eiccae We're good: friends. That’s
all. ‘

+

‘The lie didn ’t pa Pressed by tl the ‘de-
tective, Roberts admitted that he had spent
weekends with the woman. and taken her
on trips. He' also admitted that he and
Lansdowrie had quarreled once, but he
doggedly insisted that the man. would not.
have harmed him or any of the Hill family.

“All right,” Browne demanded in
exasperation,. “tell me this. Was Margaret:
Lansdowne expecting you’ to marry her?”

Roberts shrugged. «f don’t know what she
expects. But I can tell you this much. I ain’t
marryin’ nobody.” His expression softened
as he went on. “I had two of the sweetest
wives God -ever let live. I married Aletha

' when I was right young. She’s.the mother
of my daughter. Somethin’ went wrong after -
she had an operation. I spent everything I.

had to bring her up to Jackson to a hospital.
But she died.”

His second wife, he related, had died in
pregnancy.

“So after my daughter’s husband picked
up and left,” he concluded, “I. figured to
spend the rest.of my days takin’ care of her
and them kids.”

Both officers strongly suspected that Mrs.
Lansdowne had gleaned a different idea from
her middle-aged lover, but there was no

point in. trying to get that information out:

of Roberts. Instead, they asked him about
the mysterious ‘stranger who had called
on him:

He identified the visitor as an unsuccess-
ful suitor for the first Mrs. Roberts’ hand,
a farmer named Jasper Sarno, who resided
in the Hopewell community. But he inti-
mated that Sarno’s recent intere might.
reall have been Mrs, Hill.

hatever it was, though,” Roberts de-
clared with a surge of bitterness, “I didn’t
want him. around the house. When I took
Aletha away from him and married her, he
puta curse on. me to my dyin’ day. Ever
since then, I’ve had nothin’ but trouble. And
every time Sarno shows up at my. house,
some of my folks dies. That’s why I figured
there wasn’t nothin’ we could really do for
Shirley Ann.”

So far as Browne ‘and Barnes could learn,
though, Mrs. Hill knew nothing of Sarno’s
supposed interest in her. She had not even

_ gone to the door when the man called. What

was more, in the hard-headed officers’ books,
voodoo curses didn’t feed arsenic to chil-.
dren.

“Tt’s my guess,” Barnes said as they left
the house, “that Roberts is covering up for

someone _he suspects.”

“You mean rs. Lansdowne?” Browne
asked.
Barnes shrugged. “He lied for her on. cone

score, didn’t he? And if the kids were k

ing Roberts from marrying her, she mig! t

have plenty of motive.”

Driving to the laboratory of Mississippi
State College, the officers requested tech-:
nicians there to. make chemical tests as soon’
as possible on the contents of, the three con-

_fiscated medicine bottles. .

Suspect Arrested

The tests, completed that © afternoon,
showed precisely what they had suspected.
All three bottles contained lead arsenate,
Roberts’ milk of magnesia the eatest
amount. It was a poison that could be pure
chased at almost any paint or drugstore or
even at country groceries which handle: in-
secticides.

“So we know how the baby ant the stuff,”
Barnes commented. “Members of her family
gave it to her. That probably’ is how Mary
Louise was murdered, too. The question is,
who planted it?”

“I’m certain Mrs. Hill is completely in-

nocent,” Browne said. “As for Roberts, he | fl
was sick once, remember.” .

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63

wagged over the
vo deaths in less
1e woman said that
ned that the medi-
--made her ill. But

Roberts collected

mes (left) and E. L.
f the lethal medicine
. Roberts and the case.

irance on his second
ready for matrimony

ed that Roberts: had
ges of which he had
is third wife, people
oom on their wedding
after living with him

years, Roberts’ father
iched out on a quest
substitute for work.
aat he had filed suits
personal injuries, then
are he had undergone
came to trial. A little
ap when he attempted
served time for. it.
irnes saw that Roberts’
‘out Shirley Ann fol-
1 as those he had made
There was one im-
tta Roberts had died.
ighbors had saved the
murdered one grand- +
-d to. murder the other
money?
jackson, the detectives
ling that Shirley Ann’s
insured and that Ro-
money from several
the premiums. But in-
nsurance company sud-
e they were carefully

Shirley Ann’s life in-
-d, was not Houston
i's mother, Mrs. Gladys
ce, Mrs. Hill had col-
cy on the life of Mary

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Y

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4 nique.
4 take.
The story was what the officers needed to
| confront Houston Roberts, too. On the

| effect on him.

said, “My guess is that Mrs. Hill is blame-
less. But. we'll know for. sure wherr we find
out what she did with that money!’
Brought to headquarters, Mrs.. Hill freely
admitted having collected the insurance
money, but she was horrified at the idea that
she had been. in any way instrumental in
poisoning her two children. She declared
that she had turned all of the cash over to
her father to pay doctor and: funeral bills,
But a couple of phone calls revealed ‘that
not one. cent- had been | paid on those debts.
“There’s. your case,” Chief Holden said
to Browne and Barnes. “I’d been wondering
where Roberts got his money to live on.
That $20°'a week was coming from his mur-

dered granddaughter’s life insurance!”

Houston Roberts was: arrested, but he
continued to deny his guilt. During the next
three days, Chief Holden questioned Roberts
repeatedly without visible result, although
the chief was sure that the man was weak-
ening.

Meantime Lieutenant Browne and Detec-
tive Barnes were attempting to tie up the
loose ends of the case. They were unable
to trace the purchase of the poison, but they
did find a druggist who admitted having sold
both Mrs. Lansdowne and Houston Roberts
large quantities of phenobarbitol. The de-
tectives also rounded up all the sordid details
of the romance between the pair.

Little Shirley Ann, however, filled in. the
final detail. Questioned about the medicine
which. had been given her, she told a story
of refusing. sleeping capsules which her
grandfather had offered her. She also re-
membered that. Mary Louise had taken

| several of: the bright red capsules.

While the little girl’s story was not evi-
dence that would stand up in court, it filled
in a lot of gaps for the officers. At last
they understood the coma that caused - the
doctor to miss on his diagnosis. Roberts had
almost achieved. the perfect crime in Mary
Louise’s murder. Only Shirley Ann’s re-
fusal had forced him to’ change his tech-
That change had been his fatal mis-

morning of October 27, Chief Holden or-
dered the man brought ‘from his cell. The
days spent in confinement had had_ their

he: was ready to break.

“You attempted to murder little Shirley
Ann, your own granddaughter, didn’t . you,
Roberts?” Holden pressed.

Roberts winced as if he had been struck
in the face. “Yes, sir,” he said. “I tried-to.
If ta "11 send for a preacher to pray for my,
soul ..

The police chief called’ Dr. W. D. Hud-
gins, pastor-of the First Baptist Church. Dr.
Hudgins promised to come at once. “ Then
ae Holden’ summoned a police stenogra-
pher

In the next few minutes Houston Roberts
poured out his shocking story. But.the way
he told it, the ‘chief blame fell on Mrs.
Lansdowne.

He said the woman had suggested to him,

| in September, that they leave town together
| and that. he had told’ her he lacked the
money.

The investigators saw that.

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.

“She aaked me who Shirley Ann’s insur-
ance was tmade to,” Roberts went on. “I
told her it was made to my daughter, Mrs.
Hill. Then she suggested that she’d get
some poison and help me kill Shirley ‘Ann,
and if ‘the child died maybe we could get
part of the money.”

accused,

Roberts sbaded: He said that Mrs. Lans-
downe brought the lead arsenate to the
house on October 16 and helped put it in
the little girl’s medicine. He went into de-
tail. about having given*the -child more of
the poisoned medicine after her return from
the hospital the first time.

‘After the statement was typed, he signed’.
it. Dr. Hudgins arrived a few minutes later.
After praying for Roberts, he questioned the
man and verified the confession.

aad spite of the religious atmosphere of the
occasion, the police remembered Roberts’
-past, record and they were not buying his
story just as it was told. They arrested
Mrs. Lansdowne and placed her in jail. un-
der a charge of attempted murder. But
they held back their. trump card until Rob-
erts had been alone ‘with his’ conscience for

brought in again.
“We're going to exhume Mary Louise
Hill’s body,” the chief announced abruptly.
Roberts let himself sink into the chair in
the corner.. “They'll find arsenic in her
body, too,” he admitted. Mrs. Lansdowne,

also for the insurance.
He said that he and the woman had’ gone

tol from a number of capsules and substi-
tuted lead arsenate.

“I give Mary Louise three of ’em to start,”
Roberts related calmly, “When they didn’t
do the work, I give her four more.

Again, Houston Roberts signed a-.confes-
_ sion, The police filed a charge of murder
against him and he was held without. bail.
Mrs. Lansdowne, however, denied her
lover’s accusations. The police were in-
-clined to believe her, but they filed a simi-
lar -charge against her.

Ten days later, on November 8, 1949,
Houston Roberts’ finished the story that
made him a candidate for the title of the
South’s most heartless murderer. With only
a little questioning he confessed to Chief
Holden and Lieutenant Browne that he had
deliberately poisoned his ‘first two wives for
their life insurance. He had given both of
them strychnine, he said, from the same
bottle.

Meantime, Mrs. Lansdowne admitted . her
infidelity to her husband, but. insisted that
she had not beén involved in poisoning the
two children. Considering Houston Rob-
erts’ record and the fact-that there was no
evidence against her except his unsupported
word, a grand jury exonerated her of the
poisoning, and returned an indictment charg-
‘ing only Roberts with first degree murder
in the death of Mary Louise Hill.

As Chief Holden had promised, the body
of. Mary Louise was exhumed, and traces: of
arsenic were found in the vital organs.

Roberts went to. trial. in Hinds . Count
circuit court at Jackson on December rf
1949. The jury which heard the evidence
wasted no time in finding him guilty on De-
cember 10. The verdict, without rectom-

Roberts’ punishment at death in the electric
chair—a fitting -fate, most people thought,
for the middle-aged Lothario. ;

rassment to innocent persons, the names Bob
and Margaret Lansdowne, and Jasper Sarno,

used in this story, are fictitious.

‘

The Fall of the
House of White

(Continued. from page 37)

“And you fell in with the idea,” Holden’

‘half hour, later, I heard the noise. ...

two more days... Then Holden had him

he said, had helped him murder the child,

into his room, removed half the phenobarbi- -

mendation for. mercy, automatically fixed +

Stisins Nore: -To share icasiuie ihn |

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Meade White...........0---0- . . victim
Hugh White..... deca eee dpe poe son
Jake White.......... ‘victim's brother
Harvey Sager....... Bick . odd-job man
B. A, Courson............00- ... Sheriff
John F, Gibson......prosecuting attorney

this morning,” he murmured. “I went out for
a cup of coffee. When I returned about a

“What noise? ?

“A scraping and bumping. It seemed to
grow louder as I entered the house. Dad
hadn’t been feeling well lately, so I went di-
rectly to the bedroom. The door was partly
open and I could hear a man’s voice... .

“Could you tell who was speaking?”

“No. But when I got near the bedroom
door it swung open and knocked me down.
A.man rushed out and hit me on. the head
several times with something. Then he ran

out the front door.”

“Know who he was?”

“No. But he was wearing khaki clothes.”

White said he struggled to his feet and
went into the bedroom. His father was un-
conscious and bleeding.

“I must have passed out then, myself. The

next think I knew I was getting up off the
bedroom floor and I hurried outside to
spread the alarm. I guess I was unconscious
a long time, because people were starting to
goto church. - That’s all I can tell you,” he
concluded wearily, “except for that.” He
pointed to a torn place in the screen door.
“That’s where the fellow booted it open and
ran out.”
_ The prosecutor glanced at the door, then
his gaze shifted back to the marshal’s son.
“Did you occupy the same bedroom with your
father ?”

White nodded. He explained he was em-
ployed by the Southern Cotton Oil Company
in Little Rock, but had not been, working
for several months because of a back injury.

“What about other members of the family?
Weren’t some of them here when the man in
khaki. . ; .”

White’ interrupted. “Dad and I were the
only ones at home. My brother is in the
Marines and my two sisters are both married
and gone.- Dad’s brother, Jake, lives here in
town though.”

Sheriff Courson came from the bedroom
just as White finished. “I sent a man to tell
Jake,” he added. “He’s on his way here
now.’ *

“Find snyibiee ‘in. the bedroom?” the
prosecutor asked.

Courson held up.a two-foot bloodstained
iron rod. He handled it carefully to avoid
smearing any fingerprints on the metal. 1
found this lying near. the bed. I’m sure it is
the weapon the attacker used.”

The younger White was staring at the
iron bar ‘as though the sight of it struck
panic into him. “Recognize it?” the prose-
cutor asked. * . ‘

“It belongs here. It’s a part off of dad’s
cultivator. Someone fixed it for him a few
days ago.”

Bite

Hugh White shrugged his shoulders. “I
haven’t been living here too long and I don’t

know all the neighbors. But the man who. .

‘fixed it lives about three blocks from here.

.He’s short and has a crippled left hand.

That’s all I know about him.”
Courson was acquainted with most of the

residents in t!
who answere
Sager had bec
in a sawmill
had made a m
for his neighb
He must b
White’s cultiv
that part to <
motive would
“Bring Sag
send the bar
examined for
of deputies tc
bors, laying ;
seen around h:
The order
the implicatior
of curious th:
Crime was a
dwellers of tl
meanors they
lusty, brawling
the sinister sh
nf the White |

“Man in kt
“Sounds like C
Petey had c
a sergeant anc
His spry figu:
someplace on
morning until
have no reaso
nor anyone els:
“Prob’ly was
tured. “A mz
what he sees.”
Their voices
back respectfu
considerable hi
was Jake Whi:
He glanced
ried on toward
“Wait a min
Lath 3B, got
re know, *G
message. \
at Lake Villa
going to live.”
Tears came
rubbed them a
the anguish in
like that?” he
possible! He i
“T know,” Hi
room. “But sor
The elder \
voice, glanced
right, Hugh?” {
“Yes.” His
Gibson quest:
brother but not!
a motive for th
had been chiefly
marshal. He
past-few days a:
he finished his i
any difficulty wit
“How about |
here often ?”
“He’s one of
Fixed the cultiy
White paused.

-him? Did he .

chair his face te:
“Take it easy,
got nothing agai
But five minu
returned from t
houses, Sager lox
Extracting ini
people had not t
beating of Mead
them. to fightir
fingering a frien
one with whom
ran contrary toe
“You've got to


Ae eres

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1 - ae : = x
‘= bs x sy 4 = an
* Mvngees od : s
Sara :

SSS SS. Se SSS

; — wal
ae

‘4 a6 Ed §

re ' Gomes aguin tis’ Dtatpiot
Roger “hobertesabics i Batt oS
1 who prosecutes ,

- DudLey ee as ee na
cre : si _ coities the ‘def qndant iin his own, p proper
Roger” ee ie fe — Beene
’

+ anja, been oii haadanele by the intervention of night. the triel

Brg wae

hy me Ne ae
y ab ,
ae oc ‘ My aoe

heard

| veraaetand presently returned

ie

ment! ths Ver@ict vein, signed vy ewoh of* the jurors.

=

-
EO ihe

_pergon ‘and secompenivd ‘op! Golitibel

duly piesa by the wait’ on a form-r dvyof this term ,» the triay |

7 tei sas sian i oe wg

was a.ain resumed and after the conclusion of the evidence by

niet
Bias STE

the -gtate, tne defendant announced thst he would rest his Pou:

mhereup mp he. dury heretofore. empenneled ta, tx, fort sous up eB +)

ie

mh ¢ ri ie oe is te ke ay
: A A eng nony, received the instructions — of the . +e

‘the ‘arguments “of counsel rats <b sone er, oF sat
into Open » » court,~@nd in the penance
and hearingof the defendant, tire “folowing verdict to wits 5

p tive Jury féna- the def endant Guilty as Vherge® xa the inaict-

pay

ie fol LOWS t o|. .

eats we

- J. ; -Ryad ae. 4

) ap. Fosters. a. Turner, T.J- Lewis, W

Web. Jones. D. Dees, H.W, wert, i R edu ey insert
snd w.z, Seale, js ue
Te defendant being thereupon placed at Sie wer to have. and
receive the sentence of the court and being esked by the court” ;
if anything he had to say in oar of sentence, said neught. |
It is therefore order ed. by the court thet the derensent, RO ger .

Roberts ,Alias,ROg Dudley. alls&,Rog McDoneld be «nd he is per eby|

aid there to be safely Kept until yriday oto

remanded to j#eil
provi del

7

ber 26th 1932 whem he Sheil be taken therefrom to a plece

by tow, when ena where within legal hours he Sheil be hanged bythe

neck unti. he, is dead,dead ,desd'' and Mey God almighty have;

wercy on you! Immortal Soule’!

this Septemeber e7th ivce.

; ordered :
4 D.M. snderson, Judpe.

. | I.HeM. Parker, circuit cierk of tue “goanty of Neshobs ,of the |°_
‘ t : ct am
‘ Fore,oing State, i.ereby Cergvify thet the above ic a true end og
’ gorrect copy of order, ag found,in Itinute Book 6. Pagedsl. As |
| Kept in My. of fice. | 4
4 ; Given under wy uand ;,nd obi’: this 12 day of oetover, 1982 4
a CIRCULT CLERK.
|
1 |

mere.

f
pn ae A BT

ve this a outed the within wit
aking de te the within named deft

the within writ.
This October 28th, 1932.

‘ef Neshoba Cow
n legal hours, ‘hanged

STATE ‘OF MISsISsiPP’
» wNESHOBA, COUNTY: - we HP A EL eS
4 GLEN JACKSON, Circult CLERK IN AND FOR
SAID. SIATE AND, COUNTY, HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THE

vol ve AND FOREGOING IS A TRUE AND CORRECT ,
mae

GIVEN: Ung MY HAND AND SEAL OF OFFICE

oo AS. HED pay on LO DE 27

wi suite De ceca de hia cHiygrinp titer op

ee eee PE

PRESS,
- «Mobile, Alae
e895.

(Page ones)

we eens oe

=
—

Sr S =

:
t
5
4
‘

aod em

sea =

es = 1

a

7

r {trecords of, the city of Biloxi admit-

Sa opened today.in the trial of the

: ‘After Defeat. ee
9 eae ¥ x +

yee (By ‘The Associated Press). ‘
:}*’GULFPORT,. Miss., Feb. 4-—For- |°
»| mer: Mayor R. Hart Chinn of Biloxi’

|of*.the* Harrison county chancery
Sicourt at Gulfport by payment of a].
; $100 ‘fine “imposed’ upon him last
‘Fweek by Chancellor D. M. Russell
4} for his failure: to obey provisions of
“la ‘mandatory’. injunction directing

‘| carried the books and records back

{cree which had directed payment
-|on sor before. February 4 and set

‘| promise of a price and when
“1 wasn’t forthcoming he retracted his

tienes ; re
Return City . Books

ie

today: purged. himself of contempt

immediate. return of certain official
tedly'.removed by Chinn. on the

in, administrations in that

se

penalty was imposed by
Chancellor Russell after a two-day
‘hearing’ in which .Chinn admitted
| technical contempt, but maintained
that'it was not wilful. Chinn said
that’ he f¢ared personal violence if
he: obeyed the court’s mandate and

tothe: Biloxi municipal building
forthwith.” ©. > ” :
\.'Today was the final date for pay-
ment ofthe $100 penalty in ac-
‘cordance’ with the chancellor’s de-

out: the'alternative of confinement
in *jail‘until the same. should - be
pald,, See ce
The payment by the former mayor
was made.to Chancery, Clerk Ustis
| McManus. . ; init

Penalty For Failure to) 4

From N

night’ of; January 6, prior to the.
J change
“Velty |
ife“The $100

‘moratorium law

|today. :°

Ra ae

se

ws Reeorts A
Lend ;

Peron

Lexington avenue, the
Hee eg ET ye gen
aisee sais

Bo Piet

vee
ye
i

legislature.

scommittee, 93) ° 54.4
Pate)

vate’ banking firms
RFC. have been received

sey f eye

4

Cgoeragted ' CHILD IS KIDNAPED ‘
‘ST, PAUL, Feb. 4.—(UP)—Police announced here to-
day that June Haas, a school girl, had been kidnaped. A
man seized the girl near her school and fled northward on
announcement said. «>. ‘

pig -: ‘MORATORIUM UPHELD :
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 4.—(AP)—The Louisiana supreme
court today upheld constitutionality of the state mortgage
passed at the 1934 regular session of the

The decision followed closely that. of the United States
supreme court in upholding the Minnesota moratorium act,
from which the Louisiana act was patterned.

The case involved was that of the Metropolitan Life Insur-
ance company against Robert L. Morris, Jr., of New Orleans,
in which the life insurance company had been enjoined un-
der the moratorium act from foreclosing a mortgage on
Morris’ homestead to satisfy an $18,000 indebtedness.

Shem “ M’CRACKEN CASE UPHELD © —

 , WASHINGTON, Feb. 4.—(UP)—The supreme court to-
“day upheld the right of the senate to punish William P.
“McCracken, former assistant, secretary of commerce, for
alleged contempt of its ocean and

vy" BIDDERS, FOR RAIL ase aa ES
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4.—(UP)—Numerous offers by pri-
to purchase railroad‘loans held by the
RFC Cha

RR

airmail investigating
oes : ets : *s ye if te
LOANS — 0 °.> "

irman Jesse H. Jones said
ee Stn Gav heyy

aA Paee es bt

te

7

14 NZ EEA KOREA

One"Adm

. Other Cases; Third Fur-..

' Mishes, Alibi For Accused

i ' (By ‘The Associated Press)
FLEMINGTON, N. J., Feb, 4—

Peter A. Sommer, defense witness

‘| for Bruno Richard Hauptmann, was
recalled to' the stand as court

man. charged with the - kidnaping
and murder of the Lindbergh baby.

mer the fact that he had testified
for the defense in the Hall-Mills
murder trial, but the witness denied
he was in any sense a professional
witness.

- He admitted he had been mis-
taken in his testimony in an ac-
|cident trial. A common question
‘from the prosecutor as he brought
‘up certain cases, was: Be et
“ “Didn't. you testify falsely in that
case?” -' © : 3 ata,
And the common answer was:
‘F “No, sir, I did not.” x
'’ When: the defense objected to
these questions, Wilentz told the
court: he AVE Bis Res se .
«We propose’ to prove that this
man testified falsely, knowingly
|and he testified for:a price or for :

testimony.” ; Hs
Sommer, however. insisted he saw
‘two men and a woman with a blond
baby on ‘the night the Lindbergh
child wasi taken, identifying a pic-
ture of the dead Isidor Fisch as
‘| that of-one of the:men and saying
a. picture. of the suicide Morrow

* Wilentz brought out from Som-/|

Kino

vos ‘
4 ‘a
S

- 7 Li.

ensations

Yar ae

“3 re — a i ay °
“In Vallee Alimony Suit

~~

Promised —

NEW YORK, ‘Feb. 4-—(.P)—A
last-minute attempt by Supreme
Court Justice Salvatore A. Cotillo
to reconcile Rudy’ Vallee ‘and his
estranged wife, the former: Fay
Webb, or affect an amicable out-of-
court settlement, of her suit for. in-
creased alimony, failed today.

The case will go to trial tomorrow
with sensational evidence promised
in Mrs,’ Vallee’s attempt to set aside
a $100 a week separation agreement
as obtained by fraud. She seeks a

‘flowed, at times, according to re-

considerably larger portion of the
$60,000 she claims the. crooner har-
vests annually. ‘

After clearing the court of hun-
dreds of disgruntled spectators
when the trial was ‘called this
morning Justice Cotillo invited the
principals and their attorneys to his
chambers. For more than _ three
hours the ‘conference ebbed and

ports, flaring into bitter verbal ex-
changes. ‘ase

CHEST AID ASKED.

FOR DISABLE

held in reserve by ‘the Community
Chest for the care of the group of
300 aged and incurably ill, stricken
from relief rolls, during the nex
three months while some permanent
plan for their care is formulated,
was the proposed solution’ at a
meeting of city and county officials,
relief directors and business leaders
at the Chamber of Commerce this
morning. .

In a session which lasted more
than an hour, the citizens agreed

S} maid. Violet Sharpe, closely re-

that the Prospect of obtaining fi-

nthe Ae

VleTORY 1S SEEN

‘he expenditure of the $11,000

t | openly wet in its urban centers, will

FORREPEAL MOVE

By WILLIAM BENNETT
‘United Press Staff Correspondent
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Feb. 4.—
(U.P) —Alabama, long legally dry but

probably see its first legal wines
and beer in years after the prohibi-
tion referendum February 26, but
hard liquor faces a bitter fight.

Political) observers predict the
average citizen, dissatisfied with the
open sale of liquor in violation of
the bone-dry law, with many grand
juries refusing to indict violators,
will vote to take the useless law of

“= Gov. - Senhneté-

ROBINSON, Alonzo, black, hanged Cleveland, Mississippi, on March 5, 1935.
: ; \

TRIAL IS
SPEEDED
FOR NEGRO

Man Who Confessed Mis-
sissippi Killing Indicted
And Sent to Trial Im-
mediately. oe

By J. B. CROSSLEY
Associated Press Staff Writer
CLEVELAND, Miss., Feb. 4.—(AP)
Surrounded by fixed guns of Missis-
sippi national guardsmen, Alonzo
Robinson, alias James H. Coyner,
giant negro ghoul, today was in-
dicted by the Bolivar county grand
jury on murder charges in connec<
tion with the slaying and mutila-
tion of Mr. and Mrs. Aurelius B.
Turner December 8 in Cleveland
and he quickly pleaded “not guilty”
to the charges.

OCoyner’s not guilty plea took the
spectators by surprise in view of his
recent reputed confession, an-
nounced by officers, in which Coy-
ner was quoted as saying he “slew
the Turners because I had an im-
pulse to kill some one.”

The indictments were returned in
the county courthouse, which has
been turned into a veritable fort-
ress with 600 national guardsmen
entrenched behind machine guns
and barbed wire entanglements. to
preserve order. dew
Separate indictments were -re-
turned in the case of Mr. and Mrs.
Turner and Coyner was scheduled
to go on trial this afternoon for the
Slaying of Mrs. Turner, an ¢éX-
pectant mother.

Coyner was arraigned immedi-
ately after the indictments had
been returned and court was ‘re-
cessed until 2 p.m. on the request
of District Attorney Greek P. Rice
for time in which to assemble his
witnesses. ‘ :
Cc. H. Crump and Hugh Causey.
appointed by the court to defend
the negro, announced the defense
was ready for trial. Selection of 38
jury from a panel of 25 veniremen
was to start after court, recon-
vened.. a3 Be ee a

42 Oa REO ae
i ; Conner called. ott
toe ghardsnie $4 the: reauest or
local authorities who feared mob
violence would ‘result from strong
feeling over the crime. ae

The guardsmen stood posted in
and around the courthouse and at.
the jail next door behind barbed
wire entanglements and below ma-
chine gun nests mounted on the
corners of the building.

As the hour for, the scheduled
trial approached, streets all around
the courthouse were blocked off by
sentries and it was apparent thr
courtroom crowd would be made up
only of those who satisfied the in-
spection of the national guard of-
ficers for weapons, liquor or any-
thing else considered out of order.

_ The trial was to be preceded by a
(Continued on Page 2, Col. 7) ;

MOVIE OPERATOR CHIEF
IS SLAIN IN CHICAGO
Feb.

CHICAGO, 4.—(U.P)—
Thomas E. Maloy, head of the
motion picture operator’s union
was shot and killed by machine
gunners t iay in a violent re-
newal of gang warfare here.

Dr. Emmet Quinn, a dentist who
in his spare time was a motion
picture operator, was wounded in
the daring daylight assassina-
tion. 4

THE WEATHER . :
February 4, 1935 :
MOBILE —Fair tonight ane
Tuesday. Probably frost tonigh!
with minimum temperature about
38 degrees. Light to moderate
northerly winds. Raeare aes

Tides: Today—High, 12:07 a.m.} low

stitth

low, 12:09 p.m.

the etatnte hooks. .

Temperature: Highest yesterday, "64

11:43 a.m. Tomorrow—High, 2:12 a,m°

—————

ors)

DHE , MoBrL PRESS, MOBILE, ALABAMA

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1035

H iecoughs

“urs are felt for the life of
\beth Warner, 19-year-old Chi-
girl, who-has been ill with
hiccoughs for three weeks.
has slept only fitfully since.
became ill and has been un-"

to retain food.

(Associated ;,
s Photo). Pasta 3 ong te

hem “Gentlemen, I want to
‘6 my statement?”

° objected and was overruled.
No. sir, I did not.: .

Did you talk to the police or
istrict attorney after you made
tatement? A. r was a couple
ies there.

* court interrupted: to ask the
ss about.the’ Fisch , farewell

(By Trenchard) Can you tell
Fisch came with the package?
was in December,

But you don’t recall] the date?
was the, Saturday. before he

ily « began ‘ re-direct, examina-

(By! Reilly). Will you tell the
how’ you remember: the night
rril-2, 1932. A. It was a Sat-

Another: reason was that

Hauptmann wanted ‘to go: to
ilece the next day. +-.

And that was why: you “res
ered the date? A. Yes.
ontz started recross-examina-

Do you Y remember « in 1934
Detective Wallace and Detec-
Patterson asked you about
dates. Did you tell’ them that
didn’t remember any jot ; the

? A. Yes.

Did you play music at hse
mann -home every Saturday?
Yo, not in December, 1931, ° or
airy, 1932. I had to work.

When did you start playing
ec again on Saturday. eae A,
ebruary, 1932.

What.is it that brings to your
ition that you started playing
¢ again in. February,,1932? A.

came to my house.» ° 3" 3

Where. were you on the night
iarch. 1,:1932?. A, I was home.

When you say you resumed
c in February, 1932, it is mere-
sur guess, Mr. sloppenirg, AS
{ am quite sure. «°
oppenburg. said’ he had" been, out
‘ork’ periodically in” 1932. °

Do-you rememberany “jobsyou
after you started playing mu-
n February, 1932?. A.‘I worked
‘ohen’s on. 175th. _ Street ;; and

avenue. 7 mifedtiet
\ppenburg was. ences cand
| recess was ordered. a Bey

TORY IS SEEN
FOR REPEAL\ MOVE
; ON FEBRUARY 26

sth

Y
4

se
st, iA

Continued From Page One) é
Monroe, Lamar, Franklin, De-
» and Conecuh were’ expected to
eyed and be vey, oe on

‘J. Miller Bonner: ‘of’ Wilcox,
vada warrior of the dry forces,
his county would roll up the
st dry majority in the state. He
hard liquor would be “snowed
:” in the state-wide vote and
the wets would have a “hard

RECORD LEGISLATURE
GIVES ADDED POWER
TO GOVERNOR GRAVES

(Continued From Page One)

bridges, clear slum districts and
erect model homes.

In short, they provide an avenue
for the expenditure of -millions of
dollars of federal money in a bold
move to take the jobless of the
State off relief rolls and place them
on the payrolls. of worthwhile
projects. ‘

Plans Washington Trip

_With these measures tucked un-
der his arm, Governor Graves will
go to Washington next week to tell
President Roosevelt that Alabama
has carried out his bidding, and to
ask for Alabama’s share of the $4,-
880,000,000 work relief fund now be-
fore congress.

Under the other arm, Governor
Graves will carry the Harrison’ act
creating a $3,000,000 pool from gaso-
line receipts to be spent in co-op-

| eration with the federal government
jin fighting unemployment.

The legislature convened January
8 and elected Harry Walker, - of
Limestone, as speaker of the house,
and Hardy Riddle, of. Talladega, as
president pro tem of the senate. On
the same day, it met in joint ses-
sion to listen. attentively to the
swan song of’ retiring Gov. B. M.
Miller, but gave only scattered ap-
plause to his plea for re bay a of
the state’s dry laws.

Colorful Induction :

On January 14 David Bibb Graves,
of Montgomery, became chief execu-
tive in one of the most colorful
inaugurations this old capitol has
ever seen. The next day he sen® to
the legislature. his message to be
read, and prepared bills to carry
out the recommendations contained
in his message.

Propelled by administration forces
the measures sped. rapidly through
both houses. and dowr to the gov-
ernor’s desk for enactment into law.

They provided:

1.: Power for the governor to dis-
charge any appointive state execu-
tive officer without stated cause.

2. Expansion of the state tax
commission, highway department
and board of administration to the
commission system of control that
existed before’ Governor Miller
abolished the commissions and
placed one man at the head of each
of the three departments.

3.° Holding a prohibition referen-
dum on February 26 to have voters
answer three questions—Do you fa-
vor modification of present dry
laws? Do you favor. wines and beer?
Do you favor liquor under state
control and no saloons?

4. Consolidation of the office of
state fire marshal and state super-
intendent of insurance.

5.- Abolition of the state prison
inspector’s office.

6. Power for the governor to pa-
role convicts in misdemeanor cases
without payment of court cost. The
day he signed the bill he perma-

nently. paroled‘ 5,100 convicts due

back February 15. from temporary
paroles granted by Governor Miller.

7. Removal of the Tennessee Val-
ley authority from the jurisdiction
of the Alabama Public Service com-
mission, drawing from John Neely,
Alabama director cf TVA opera~
tions, the comment “Now. we're Bide
ing to get somewhere.” wn

8. Power for the governor to. re-
finance . the $16, 890,000.. bond issue

, | Of 1933,

\These were the. defymite “accom-
plishments' of ‘the legislature during
the first 13 legislative’ days, but
countless other subjects arose dur-
ing the days from January 8 to hele

ruary, 2.
' “Other Bills Loom ‘
More than one reapportionment

‘| bill made its appearance, but that

controversial subject was - carried
over until after the recess, °-'

A proposed constitutional amend-
ment by Hanks of Talladega called
for the payment of $100 monthly
salaries to legislators throughout
their four-year terms, “It is ih com-
mittee hands now.

Hanks also introduced a 3 per
cent sales tax which he said would
reap a harvest of $3,500,000 and
thereby reduce the’ state’s ad
valorem tax from 6% to 3 mills,

Other measures that face the
final atten but that. will not receive:

nal attention until after: ithe recess,

AYMAN i wb Ye

| THE ELEMENTS

Fair tonight and Tuesday. Prob-
ably frost tonight with minimum
temperature about 38 degrees.
Light to moderate . northerly
winds. | ’

Your Elements Editor can’t make
up his mind whether George Stone,
George Sossaman' or Dr. Turner
Granade is the most anxious to
take the fee officials off the fee.

. The way Mr. Sossaman and Dr.
Granade are fighting over the honor
of knocking Judge Williams’ ears
down leaves Your Elements Editor
in the state of utmost. confusion,
and that’s’ one state that boasts no
bicameral legislative body, so it is
useless for Your Elements Editor to
attempt a substitute bill for the
Sossaman substitute bill for the
Granade enabling act.

Mr. Stone is steadfastly refusing
fee money because he is afraid that
he might have to pay it back later
on and he’d rather for the officials
to risk the. chance of earmarking
such money than to do so himself.
Your Elements Editor valiantly sug-
gests that he will gladly act as cus-
todian for anybody who has any
funds he wants to put in escrow, as
we laughingly call it.

Prosperity Thought For Today:
It takes a sinking fund to float a
bond issue.

LONG TRANSFERS
REVOLT CONTROL
TO NEW ORLEANS

(Continued From Page One)

concentrated at the state capital 10
days ago by Gov. Oscar K. Allen to
check what he termed “armed in-
surrection against the governing au-
thorities,” was demobilized Satur-
day night and Sunday, leaving ap-
proximately 400 guardsmen to en-
force the strict martial law pro-
claimed for East Baton Rouge parish
January 26.
Long Constantly Guarded

From the time he set: foot on
Louisiana soil Saturday morning un-
til he was vishered into his hotel here
last night he was under the constant
protection of a heavily armed detail
of guardsmen which supplemented
his regular personal bodyguards,

Long’s departure from. his Baton
Rouge hotel Suntay afternoon was
carefully covered by his militia. Ma-
chine gunners and soldiers equipped
with tear gas guns provided a cordon
from his room to his automobile.

Before leaving Baton Rouge Sun-
day Senator Long saw to it that the
Louisiana public service commission
issued an order drastically lowering
electric rates in the capital,

The commission’s order makes it

mandatory that; the Baton Rouge
Electric company invoke by Feb-
ruary 15 new rate schedules calling
for reductions ranging upward from
22 per cent.
‘As Long prepared to leave the
state a new flare-up loomed between
Long and anti-Long groups for con-
trol of the East —_ Rouge parish
government, ’

Long seized cealiios of the parish
police jury, the governing body, two
weeks ago under a legislative act
which empowered Governor Allen to
appoint one juror for each of the 13
elected jurors. Four of the elected
jurors were friendly to Long, giving
him a sizable majority. The nine
anti-Long members, however, plan
to resist the reorganization by court
action, —

wi etetee Piste es © tee

TROOPS ON GUARD
AS NEGRO SLAYER
FACES TRIBUNAL

(Continue? From Page One)
session of the grand jury which was
expected to return a spesdy indict-
ment against the negro, who has
confessed the crime.

. Adj.-Gen. Thomas J. Grayson
and members of his staff who en-

-|gineered the transfer of the negro

by special train under protection of
200 guardsmen from the mob-proof
county jail at Jackson to the jail
here early today, said they an-
ticipated no trouble, but were pre-
pared to-cope with it should some
favehin:

The troops carried full field equip-
ment, including tear gas bombs.
They had orders to “shoot to kill” if
necessary.

Coyner laughed frequently at
questions put to him about his past
life, and now and then some of the
guards laughed with him, He said
he had been away from his home
here since he was 18, and has lived
in Chicago and other middle west-
ern cities, Pittsburgh and New
York. He said he lived on 134th
street for three years during one of
his New York sojourns. “I wish I
were back there now,” he added,
looking down at his handcuffs.

The entire train trip was without
incident. There was hardly a per-
son to be seen at any of the stops.

Coyner’s mutilation murders of
the Turners’ was described as the
most revolting crime in Mississippi
history. After killing the couple, he
cut off portions of Mrs, Turner's
body, salted and cured it.

80-Page Confession

He was trap:ed and arrested last
month in the Cleveland postoffice
where he had gone to mail obscene
and threatening letters to other
white women,

Officers obtained an 80-page con-
fession from the negro in the Hinds
county jail. He also confessed that
he was the ghoul who had dug up
four white women's bodies in Mich-
igan in 1927, and placee their heads
in a trunk,

Feeling against the negro was
running very high in the delta, and
the guardsmen expected a difficult
oe e preserving order during the
ria

Adjt.-Gen. Thomas °Y, Grayson,
in charge of the troops, said: “This
is a most unpleasant task, but we
will carry out orders to the letter.”
‘In calling out the troops, Gov.
Sennett Conner declared he was
“not actuated through pity for the
negro, but by a desire to preserve
the dignity and integrity of Mis-
Sissippi courts.”

COMMUNITY CHEST
WILL BE ASKED TO AID
ILL, DISABLED HERE

(Continued From Page One)
ate solution,” Mayor Bates said. “We
will ask our legislators to inquire
into the possibility of government
aic and in the meantime the only
possible answer seems to be in the
$11,000 now held in reserve by the
Community Chest.”

Asked if he thought the $11,000
would be made available for that
purpose by the Chest directors or if
they had any other means in mind,
Dr. R. A. Kirchhoffer, president of
the organization, declared that he
would not know until after a meet-
ing of the directors tomorrow morn-
ing what action they would take.

Miss Bess Williams, director of
the Mobile county relief, and Miss
Bessie Rencher, city wel -re worker,
were present to explain the con-
dition of the 300 indigent cases.
Representatives to the state legisla-
ture were also present.

A small “wanted to rent” ad will
bring you listings of apartments and
rooms from every section of the city.

WINNIE:
WINNI
000-year-
relic of t!
waters ¢:

with thei:
exhibition

skeleton ¢
the bank
near Trel
long and

took mus:
assemble '

| BABY’S COLD


aber Of Gonuneice, and

“ns, after which an

mn two soccer teams
xhibition match at
school field,
2:30 o’clock Sunday afternoon
boat races between crews of
S. Dragon and U.S. S. Seneca,
, and other races will be held
obile river at the foot of Gov-
ent street. Miss Margaret
‘, Carnival queen, will present
» to the winner. At 6 o'clock
ly_ evening a tea will. be given
e Bit and Spur club in honor
‘@ visiting officers, E
Program has been arranged
he final day of the cruiser’s
.Monday as the exact time of
‘essel’s Sailing has not been set,

‘DI GRAS OBSERVED
BY ALABAMA CAPITOL

‘NTGOMERY, Ala., March 5.—
~Alabama’s capitol is closed
in observance of Mardi Gras,
1 ends at midnight Tuesday
heginning of Lenten season,

‘oliday message was transmit-
» all departments Monday on
of-Gov. Bibb Graves, who has
inced all legal holidays will be
‘ed during his administration.

Murphy

‘“ACHELORS FACE TAX
"SON CITY, Nev., March 5.—
Neyada__bachelors_25....to.-50
of *age*would be taxed * $10
under terms of a bill intro-
by Senator Frank Ryan of
ogas. The receipts would be

the
‘v ab the*Shrine Ho 1e, 251 Gov-

‘ent street, in honor of the ves-
crew given by the U. S. S. Se-
.<

urday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
officers will visit Bellingrath
“oyster
* will be given at Bayou la
>. At 2:30 o'clock Saturday aft-
from
d the visiting cruiser will give

i;

nt

Mississippi Ghoul Grins
_ Dies Calmly On Gallows

Militia Guards Negro as He Forfeits Life For Slay-
- _ ing of Pair; Final Plea Is Futile.

Hob QuiLe so diavornabie,”
Dr, Thomns A, Claytor, accom-
panied by specialists, calls frequent-
ly. Oxygen is being administered
constantly and frequent glucose in-
Jections made. The glucose fur-
nished additional nourishment and
eases the constant strain on his
heart. f

High government Officials and
old friends filed in and out of the
little red brick house. Messengers
brought stacks of telegrams from
all over the country,

zat
Lieutens
Wilhelm
Palmer
Opelika,
Dothan.
Empha.
on inter
club pro?
bama di
100 at th

in San /

seven bi’

(By The Associated Press)

B, Turner,
near here last December,
guardsmen with

Sheriff E. R. McLean sprang the
trap that plunged the 40-year-old
professed fatalist to his death on the
scaffold atop the four-story Bolivar
county jail. The trap was sprung at
3:58 a.m., and Robinson was pro-
nounced dead 10 minutes later, Only
a handful of curious were on hand
in the rain when the negro arrived.
Refuses to Pose
The execution was over a Scant
15 minutes after the shackled giant
had arrived aboard one of two bus-
loads ‘of troops detailed as his spe-
cial convoy from the mob-proof jail
at Jackson where he’ was. held. for
safckeeping, to Cleveland. The trip
took seven hours, :
' AS soon as the bus bearing Robin-
son drove into the troop filled court

s Income for a proposed ‘old
nsion, :

yard, the negro was rushed through
a double lane of soldiers into a room

Kes

10GS

:

ak
mee.

S

wi

“so far as I’m con-
pigs, because even
to go up with them.

lot-of friends, and I

ig? Page Ny

na families who are
c service. Some peo-
ig how pleased they

rset : :
lear about how |
clse is, but
sually learn
are among the
nothing but

HIGHER

2 i :

se Klec EVICILY
ays Down!

igo

B

CLEVELAND, Miss., March 5.—
Cracking his features into a broad
grin as the black hood and noose
were pulled over his head, Alonzo
Robinson, alias James H. Coyner,| pose. He screwed his features and
huge negro grave robber and con-
fessed slayer, went to his death on
the gallows. early today for the slay-
ing and mutilation of Mrs, Aurelius
who with her husband,
was hacked to death -in their home

Between 200 and 300 national

fixed bayonets
stood guard outside the jail as

here, had claimed the body,

was to have his picture made and
Send it to her.
the Hinds county jail yesterday in
his best clothes,
doffed and sent to her also. He was
wearing a Collarless blue shirt, old
pants and old shoes for the execu-
tion,

AGRONOMIST SEEKS

(U.P) —Alabama farmers were pen-
alized because of short staple- cotton
in a number of areas of the state
during the fall of 1934, according to
J. G. Lowery, extension agronomist,
upon completing a survey of the
types of cotton produced last year.

survey, Mr. Lowery says:

ter staple varieties of cotton in 1935
is emphasized by the fact that the
percentage of cotton shorter than
%-inch
compared with 8.7 per cent in 1933,
If the amount of short staple varie-
ties planted in. 1935 shows an in-
crease over 1931-33 in line with the
increases in the short kinds in 1934
there is a likelihood that consider-

able trouble may be experienced
this fall.”

in the courthouse where county of-
ficials made one last plea that he
clear his conscience. At this point a
photographer attempted to take a
Picture, but Robinson refused to

closed his eyes as a deputy sheriff
held his head in the face of the
camera. :

He told county officials he was
not going to talk . further. They
quickly gave up their questioning
and ordered him taken across the

Physicians said that despite
Holmes’ indomitable will-power that
the strain of his illness was slowly
wearing away his
making inroads on the sturdy con-
stitution that refused to yield to day.

Civil war.

Holmes
nourishm
Visitors };
the room

strength and

PRESS,

3=5 #19 35 ®

court yard to the jail for hanging,

Robinson was grinning wryly as
he was led up the narrow staircase
to the scaffold) He was Strapped
about the legs and watched the
movements of officials with ap-
Parent interest.
When Sheriff McLean began
Teading the death warrant, the

negro begged off that formality, but
Sheriff McLean continued reading
and Robinson listened, half smiling
as the official ended.

“Have you anything to
James?” the sheriff asked.
“Don’t you want to pray?”
“How can I pray,” the negro re-
plied, “when there is no preacher
here.” He laughed a bit, The black
hood was placedon his head and
over. 1t the heavy knotted noose.
A moment later Sheriff McLean
Sprang the trap and life apparently
left the huge frame at the instant.
It was ten minutes before he was
officially pronounced dead and the
body was lowered to the ground
floor, to be placed in a wooden box
for burial at the county poor farm.
Between 25 and 30 persons, in-
cluding Walter Turner, a brother of
the slain man, and Jim Sherrill,
the father of Mrs. Turner, witnessed
the hanging.

Say,

Officials said none of his rela-
tives, including his 72-year-old
mother who lives on a farm near
One of Robinson’s last thoughts
He posed for it. in

which he then

BETTER STAPLE COTTON

MONTGOMERY, Ala., March 5.—

Summarizing the findings of the

“The importance of planting bet-

was 21.1 per cent in 1934

OY OF SEVEN YEARS
HURT, HIT BY AUTO

No

Automobile accidents in the city’
over the week-end resulted in the
injury of two person, of whom
one was A. Richardson, 7, who
suffered a fractured right leg
yesterday afternoon when struck
by an automobile driven by
Horatio Walker; at St. Joseph and
Adams streets. Detectives Burton
and Lynch said young Richardson
was trying to cross the street at the
time he was struck. He was kept at
the City hospital for observation.

«Come to the Grand |

lis,

Tnjured in an automobile crash
early Sunday morning, Machin Mul-

arrests were made,

26, of 1458 Springhill avenue, was

treated at the City hospital for in-

dieting LA bn

fobile, Alaga

)

_ tinuous Music. See th
Ballet Girls, Pirates, (
mythical world. of..ma:

-' you will eniovi:Sevaaea


NO APPEAL,

ROBINSON, Alonzo, black, hanged at Cleveland, Mississippi, 3-5-1935. .

"Cleveland, Mississippi, Dees 9, 193)-Some time last night a killet entered the modest su-
burban home ef Mr, and Mrs. A. B. Turner here and with hammer, gun and knife brutally mur-
dered Turner and his wife, mtilated their bodies and cruelly beat over the head their
leyear-old son, Aurelius, leaving the child for dead. Tonight, with crime. experbs frem 2
states assembled here making efforts to solve themyster and angered citizens milling about
the Turner home, the only clue to the identity of the slaytn is themmbled words of little
Aurelius, uttered between groans: 'My daddywas shot last night while he was reading the
paper. by --==-<, I'm going to kill «----«== because he killed my mama and my daddy last
; night.® Officers tonight. reported that they had arrested for questioning a neighbor of the
“ turners, but ne charges had been filed. |
~MWAnother child of the murdered couple, 2<year-old Jimmy, was asleep in the same bed as his
-prother Aurelius and was in a half-frozen condition when the crime was discovered this morn-
‘ ing by a negro maid on her arrival for wrk, The couple's oldest child, Merline, 10, pro-
 - bably escaped death because shehad gone to her grandmother's to spend the night. When the
negro girl. discovered the bodies, she summoned neighbors and officers and in a short time a
man hunt was started and officers from Memphis and Clarksdale were here to assist local offi-
cers in working for a solution to the crime, District Attorney Greek F, Rice of Clarksdale
and Major 1, B, Birdsong,.Jr., Clarksdale police chief, were calldd, Later by airplane
homicide experts came here from Memphis te assist in unravelling the mysterry. These inclu-
ded Sergeant Morris Solemon, Sergeant Roger Kennan and (?) Asne, a photographer,
"The bodies of Mr, and Mrs. Turner were found on the bed in the front room The facet that
he was dressed led officers to believe that the cime had been committed early in the night.
There weretwo holes in the man's head, 1 made by a bullet and the other apparently by a |
hammer, A thorough search of the mrder chamber partially bore out the mumbled words of li-
ttle Aurelius, On theheater in the center of the room was a copy of a morning newspaper and
behind the stove onthefloor a bullet fired from a.38=caliber pistol, Robbery was dismissed
as a motive for the crime, for in a trunk near the bed wherethe bodies were feund was $135
in earrency, There were no signs that the killer had sought any loot, His wife's body lay :
- at his feet. Her head was terribly crushed and she was otherwise mutilated, apparently by
knife and hammer, A blood-stained hammer was found under the bed and bleedy footprints oute
side the house, There was evidenceof a terrific fight inthe Little home of the Turners,
-fhe bodies of the two were foun) in bed, Itwas thought that after Turner was slain, his mur.
derer might haveplaced his body on the bed,
"Litgle Aurelius had been cruelly b eaten about thehead,. He was removed, toghter with his
brother, to the homeef his grandmother, Mrs, Spence Turner, Physicians called in to attend
the child declared he was unable to speak with officers, They are anxiously awaiting his
recovery, hopeful that he might furnish a clue to the crime, The condition of little Aure=
lius was described as not satisfacbory, Neither was that of his yourcer brother, suffering
from exposure to the cold room, ‘he two are under the careof a physician at. their. grande
-mother's. and Aurelius will not be permitted to tell a complete story, until he is stronger,
: the pysician said, Memphis officers went in consultation late tenight at Cleveland with
District Attorney Rice and Major Birdsong,. who is commander of the Second Battalion of the
“ 158th Infantry in addition to heading the police department at Clarksdale, “fficers tonight
“ were making a minute examination of the bloodstains in thk mrder room, They also expected
i to get some evidence from the hammer used to batter thehead of Mrs, Turner,
~,ee(part tonr from paper)eeehowever, the dogs were taken out of the Hunt, as they were un-
ableto pick up any trails, Informtion X*#XAXH¥XK swept, over, Cleveland early tonight that
the slayer or slayers had been pisitively identified and again knots of men formed on Wathe
town square. A few minutes later somebody shouted that the murderers had been revealed and
the crowds, overwelling in volume, started for the home of the Turners. Bolivar County au-
therities announced that clues had been secured &hatmight lead to an early arrésts, The
double funeral of Mr, and Mrs, Turner will be held from the Turner home tomorrow morniry «
The coroner's jury has not and will not render a verdict for several days pending develep=
- ments, Mr, Turner was employed by Riley and Nelsen, stock dealers of this city, and was
~ well Liked and had no known enemies,
"Survimimeg Mr, Turner are three small children, his mother, Mrs, Spencer turners four bro-
thers, Walter, Julius, Edward and Fred, and four sisters, Mrs, Louis McFate, Mrs, T. U. Mce-

Garrh, and Mery Lois and Warren E,, all of Cleveland, Mys, Turner is survived, b arent;
Mr. and Mrs, Jim Sherill of Cascilla, and by four sisters, Mrs. Corinne hyde, Mrb, fark
Hankins, and Hazel and Hoxie, all of Cascilla, Sheriff E. B, McClean tenight said that

<3 eee


ROBINSON, Alonzo, black, 40, hanged

“The >

vember 4, 1934. My Chief Dep-

uty, W. R. Dickson, Deputy Sher-
iff John Davis and | were just on the
point of leaving the office for home.
Suddenly the telephone shrilled. 1
picked up the instrument and said:
“Sheriff's office—Sheriff McLean
speaking.”

“We've had a oe out by
Merigold,” my deputy, W. B. McNeil,
informed me. “It was a strange sort
of holdup, too. The man tried to tie
up a family of six, but let them get
away from him.”

“We'll be there right away,” I
told McNeil. “Call Cohoma County
Convict Farm,” | directed, “and get
their dogs.”

I hung up and turned to my dep-
uties: “Let’s go, boys. They’ve had
a stickup near Merigold.”

“What!” Chief Deputy Dickson
exclaimed. “A holdup on a farm!”

“Yes, that is strange,” I answered as we hurried out
to a car, climbed in and drove out Highway No. 61 to-
ward Merigold, a little town of four hundred, located
seven miles north of Cleveland, the seat of Bolivar
County.

| WAS 8:30 on the night of No-

AS WE hurried through the night I continued to pon-

der over the strange phenomenon of a robbery at-
tempt in a rural section. It never had occurred before
in all my years of sheriffship. I couldn’t understand it.
How little did [ dream that this apparent robbery at-
tempt was no robbery attempt at all. How little did |
dream that it was merely the prelude to a crime so

This is the humble abode. of the Turners,

DETECTIVE

‘Herewith

shocking, so ghastly, so horrible that the very thought
of it blanched men’s faces, filled women with shuddering
terror, caused them to bar their windows and doors se-
curely at night and require husbands to sleep with guns
loaded and ready. How little did | dream that it was a
prelude to a crime which led through a maze of false
clews, of baflling clews, of mystery that taxed the brains
and the energy of the finest police, that called into the
case the Post Office Inspectors’ Department as well as
J. Edgar Hoover's Department of Investigation to aid us!

However, when | reached Merigold with my dep-
uties, Davis and Dickson, | found Deputy Sheriff McNeil
waiting for us. The bloodhounds’ had not yet

7
\ <\.

Here they'were rearing @ family, sttuggling to make

arrived, and while we were waitin:
for them MeNeil detailed what litte
he had heard of—as we believed a
that time -the attempted holdup,

When the dogs came we hurrice
on to the scene of the crime, the home
of William Davis, a farmer, living
four miles east of Merigold, Here
the dogs picked up the trail and
struck out across the fields southward

An hour Jater they. still were
trailing, and we seemed certain of
running down our quarry. Then sud-
denly came disappointment. The
dogs came to a highway where they
stopped, baffled. “The bandit had es-
caped ina car, There was nothing we
could do now save return to. the
Davis home and seek to learn all we
could of the crime.

IRST, T asked fora description of

the man. Mr. Davis said: “He
Was tall and wore a jumper and over-
alls and a white cap. He spoke in a soft voice, like a
woman's. His face was covered and we couldn't tell what
he looked like. Tle wore a pair of cotton gloves.”

“Tell: me what happened,” | urged. “How did the
man get in the house?”

“We were all sitting in the living-room—my_ wife
and my two daughters and two young sons,” Mr. Davis
explained. “Before we knew it the man was in the room,
The front door was open—I mean unlocked. He held a
pistol on us and ordered us to lie down on the floor in
a row, We did—and he took a bunch of string from
his pocket——Here it is,” he broke off, showing me
about forty feet, in four-to-six-feet lengths, of strong

STORIES

12/1935.


Jer on Reco

canvas strips. Then Davis continued:
“My oldest daughter, she’s twenty, was at one end
of the row, and Eat the other. My wife was next to me;
then came my youngest daughter, eighteen, and then
the two boys. The man tied the hands and feet of m
oldest girl, then began on the boy next to her. Sud-
denly the youngest girl jumped to lor feet and ran into
the kitchen to get out the back door. The man ran
after her; and when he did, | jumped up and ran out
the front door. He quit chasing the girl and ran after
me. He fired two or three times, but I didn’t stop. I ran
to Rickles’ house a quarter-mile up the road. Rickles got
his gun and we hurried back. The man had gone then.
He didn’t steal a thing.”

ryAwis finished and I began to question
him. | learned that the marauder had
made no demand for money or other valu-
ables, and that Davis had believed he in-
tended to rob them. Indeed, the man had
given no indication at all of his true inten-
tions save to force the family to lie on the
floor where he began to tie them up.

Decidedly it was a strange case, and
it puzzled me. | put the bunch of string
in my pocket. We could find no other
clew, and there seemed nothing else we
could do. I cautioned Davis about leaving
his door unlocked at night—despite the
fact no farmer locks his door—and my dep-
uties and I left.

“What do you make of the thing?” I
qystned Deputies Davis and Dickson as we
drove along. “That was no ordinary rob-
bery attempt.”

“No,” Dickson replied, “it
wasn’t. There's something

Actual

photograph: of “ the
brad | hammer. found, beside
one. of. the bodies

strange about it. Maybe the man was an escaped maniac
and intended murdering the whole family.”

| had thought of that, but the idea seemed too fan-
tastic for belief. Eonanes the drive back to Cleve-
land | pondered over the crime, yet | could find no
reasonable explanation. The thing completely stumped
me. | was still thinking about it when | went to bed
and to sleep.

AEEAT morning my mind still was on the occurrence.

At ten o'clock Deputy Sheriff McNeil, who had
called me the night before, walked into the office.

“What do you make of this?” he asked, laying a
scrap of paper on my desk. “Mrs, Rickles, the neighbor
of William Davis, found. it in her mail box this morning,
It wasn’t mailed—just. dropped in the box by some one.”

I took the paper from. McNeil and saw that it had
penciled werns on it. | began to read; then I saw what
it was—a foully. obscene note intended for a woman’s
eyes, though it was not addressed to anyone.

“Rickles is fighting mad,” McNeil said. “He thinks
someone who knew his wife and daughters put the note
in the mail box_as an insult to them. But do you know
what I think, Sheriff? | believe the man put it there,
who tried to tie up the Davis family last night. How
are we going to trace the writer?”

“{ don’t know,” I answered. “I’m afraid we will
never get him. However, we can keep a lookout. We
have his description. If he had sent the note through the

are

mail we could get the Postal Inspectors after him. Ulow-
ever, you don’t know the writer and the holdup man
were the same. It’s just a guess.”

McNeil took the note and returned to Merigold.

As the days passed, the affair seemed of small im-
portance. Soon it slipped from my mind.

Then suddenly, on November 15, ten days later,
Merigold and the note drew sharp attention. On_ this
day Postal Inspector R. T. Rock, of Greenville, Missis-
sippi, arrived in Merigold. He went straight to the post
oicé to interview Postmaster H.-R. Park, When the
two men were alone, Inspector Rock drew two letters
from his pocket, and handed them to Postmaster Park.

“Merigold is a small place.” the Inspector said.
“There are only about four hundred inhabitants. Do
you happen to Pe who wrote these letters?”

Mr. Park took the letters. He saw that they were
postmarked Aferigold, November 5. Both were addressed
in hand-print, not writing. One was to Mrs. Josephine
Wellman, of No. 1510 Pennsylvania Avenue, [ndian-
apolis, Indiana, The other was to Mrs. Richard Bron-
son, of No, 1407 Chapman Street, in the same city.
After studying them, Mr. Park said: “No, [Pm afraid
I can’t help you. If these were written instead of printed,
I might know who wrote them from the handwriting.”

a eres letters were turned over to me by Inspector
A. C. Garrigus of Indianapolis. He received them
from the addressees. They are vilely obscene; the worst

PLSD se iw as 2 detain abn Boe ae at ee

oy

graphed

I’ve ever seen. You have a dangerous degenerate in
Merigold.” the Inspector said,

Mr. Park, like evervone else in town, had heard of
the attempted tieup of the Davis family and the obscene
note left in Rickles’ mail box. Suddenly he wondered if
the note and the two letters were written by the same
man. ‘The note was put in Rickles’ box the night of No-
vember 4 and the letters were stamped November 5,
However, the Postmaster knew that mail was not made
up at night in Merigold: so if the writer dropped them
in the post office slot the night of November 4, they
would be stamped November 5, the next morning,

OW Postmaster Park sent for Deputy Sheriff MeNeil

and soon the Postmaster and the Inspector were
comparing the unmailed note and the two letters. While
one was printed and the other written, it was easy to see
that one person wrote both letters and the note. The
context and certain capitals were identical.

But still Park couldn't say who wrote them!

Before leaving Merigold. Inspector Rock suggested
a plan whereby Mr. Park might get a line on the writer
should he again attempt too send out another letter,
Then, leaving one of the letters and the note with Post-
master Park to aid him, Inspector Rock returned to
Greenville.

Days passed, however, without trapping the obscene
letter writer. But a month and five days after the ap-
parent holdup of the Davis family, the comparatively

3


be

John Davis, Deputy Sheriff of Boliver County,
Mississippi, in on the case from the first

Postal Inspector R. T. Rock, whose efforts
were tireless in hunting the murderer

Postmaster H. R. Park, of Greenville, Missis-
sippi, a man who had energy and a theory

4

small crime was forgotten in the wild excitement from
the discovery ot a ocdiie dieate heretble Chan amy ever
recorded in the criminal annals of Massissippt.

On this morning, Alice Grimes, foutteen-yearoold
Negto mia, aerwedd at the Atediies Derren breve car the
northern outskirts of Cleveland at 7:30. The mand ene
tered the kitchen as usual through the unlocked back
door, stopped to gather up an armtal ot kindling, and
then stepped into Mr. and Mrs, Turner's bedroom to
make their morning, fire.

UDDENLY the

maid stunned short,
terror striking into
her very soul. On the
bed she beheld oa
ghastl sight. — Ter
trembling hands let
the kindling crash to
the floor as she ut-

tered a terrified scream es

i fled from the he Pers

ouse. ee
At the home ‘of rne

Elbert Henderson,
two hundred yards
away, the maid gasped
out her discovery: “De Turners done been murdered!
Done been butchered!”

Not waiting to hear more, Elbert Henderson raced
for the Turner home, taking a circuitous route to pass
the home of John Burtness:

“Go for the Sheriff!” Henderson shouted to Burt-
ness. “The Turners have been murdered!” Then he
sped on his way.

On this Sunday morning | had just reached my of-
fice when John Burtness came tearing in with the news.
Ten minutes later, having collected my deputies, Charlie
Maddox, A. C. Pearman, John Davis; and Coroner C.
C. Thweatt, and leaving Chief Deputy Dickson to notify
District Attorney Greek P.

ww

ay vents ae
ne \ vow a bat ve ‘

hands too full now with the murder to administer to
ec dtet tiene Chote tee diets Hat at ven tied Pat abbye ane
jured, Then tT hadat rushed to the hospital Phe second
child Popave inte the humneds of a ncighbor, a crawd of
Cheeni Treen: pe tlie neh Deter the Tote Pde rattpehe rend
mites brother Was amet Cher,

Now, with care provided for the children, | hurried
to the Pieners bedside. Tlere Thad niy fist closeup: ot
the murderer's dhaboheal work. Texamining Purner first,
Josaw that he had been shot through the back of the
head, the bullet pas.
sing through and
emerging: from tis aa
sal passage.  burther,
his) skull had been
crushed by bhows
from oa brad) hamaies
which lay .on the bed
beside him.

EXT 1 turned to

Mrs, Turner, It
was to her that the
fiendish murderer, for
reasons Which we did
not understand — at
this time, gave most

Murd
[ER ae UR
tenSa

of his attention. The monster had battered her head

fearfully. He had used for this work, not the small brad
hammer, but a larger instrument, not in evidence. After
killing the woman, the fiend had set upon her with a
sharp knife. He had cut a large piece of flesh from the
inside ofher right thigh, and another piece from her
hip. Further, he had slashed off a piece vf skin and
tissue about 12 by 12 inches square from ahother cer-
tain part of her body! But most fiendish of all his hel-
lish work of dissecting his victim, the monster had
ripped wide open the woman’s stomach, exposing to our
view the four-months’ fetus of an unborn baby! And—
inconceivable thought!—the murderer had carried away,

like a wild beast) of the

Rice of Clarksdale, forty
miles north, | was speeding
to the Turner home.

Will I ever forget the
scene of indescribable horror
which confronted me_ there?
At the doorway we stopped
to survey the tragedy. The
room was like an abattoir.
Mrs. Luella: Turner, age
thirty, and Aurelius Turner,
age thirty-six, lay on the bed
in an ocean of blood. Mrs,
Turner, a pillow-slip pulled
over her head, wore only her
night-gown, which was drag-
ged up about her neck. Tur-
ner was fully dressed.

BEFORE I could reach the
bed my attention was at-
tracted elsewhere. From a
baby crib against the wall
came the cries of the Turners’
two-year-old. Hurrying to
the crib, | discovered another
child, a four-year-old boy,
lying covered with blood and
unconscious from a blow he
had_ received on the head.
While | am a regular physi-
cian and surgeon, | had my

Wm, T... Grit
“Police: Department
go ennesse¢, who: ¥

jungle, all the flesh he had
cut off! This was nowhere to
be found!

UDDENLY, as 1 stood

looking at the knife work
of the foul murderer, the
thought struck me that the
fiend must have known some-
thing about surgery. He had
removed the particular skin
and tissue which he wanted,
almost as skilfully as 1 my-
self could have done.

Now that | had examined
all details, | straightened up
and turned to Deputy Sheriff
Davis and Coroner Thweatt:
My other -deputies were
guarding the doors to keep
back the ominous crowd twel-
ling momentarily.

“Let's see what we can
find, fellows,” I said. “Be
careful not to disturb finger-
prints.”

We were not long in
making our first discovery.

“Look!” Coroner Thweatt
exclaimed, holding up a
bloody bullet he had picked
up from the floor.

Detective Stories, Inc, Entered as 2nd class matter Oct.
General

Editor, V'rice 10¢ per copy in the United st
and possessions, also Cuba, Mexico and Panama. Sub:
express money order. Copyright, 1935, All rights reser
copies of material submitted, Official Detective Storie

CONTENTS THIS ISSUE
Vol. t December, 1935 No. (2

“The Most Brutal Murder on Record”....Sheriff E. R. McLean and Fred G. Millette
On the Trail of the Flying Bank Bandits..,.Detective Ferdinand H. Snyder and Albert ©. James.
Who Killed Grandpa Nusbaum?....Captain Patrick Collins and Ray Brennan
Sterilization—Albert H. Fish, Exhibitionist Killer. ...Ex-Operative 48..........
Hunt of the Baggage Checks....Detective H. P. Oswald and Edgar Forest Wolfe.
The March of Crime, December....David Frederick McCord........eecceeeeee .
The Riddle of the Nude in the Cemetery....Detective Lew Barker and M. T. Moore....
Rise and Fall of Racketeer Barons—Detroit’s Infamous Purple Gang... . Larry “Logsdon.

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se eceeee 28

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DAs Ala taal

a)

‘ oe f. ‘
+ MP pe rae
meet hae se Te ‘ *

“Now we can determine the murder gun if we find
it,” t declared. “It may prove of great value to us.”

The bullet appeared to be a 38 caliber long. Care-
fully Eavrapped ie ip and fail it aside,

Presently we made our second discovery. Lying
near the door through which the diabolical) murderer
moat have fled Grom the hotoe, b fotnd a cheap cotton
glove, bloodstained. | hurried with the glove to the
next room where Turner's kinsmen waited, From his
little thirteen-year-old gith and his brother, Edwin ‘Ture
ner, | learned that
Turner did not own
such a glove. Now
this glove, while a
valuable discovery, I
feared might cheat
us of any chance to
get finger-prints.

HASTENED back
to the murder room,
wrapped up the glove

"The:Crime Was So Shock=
ing, So. Ghastly, So Horri-.
ble That the Very Thought ©
of It Blanched Men's Faces,

tay Thawe
believe he

weeks Tat he
he sugpested, “I

Clevelind for theee on tous
Sipped ia and out agen,”
committed the murder.”

Oni hy, ew. TD titiedd the Peties
Thweatt, who empaneled a jury and tecerved its verdict
of death by person or persons unknown

Printenet Nttoeney Wace aneivedd aud excuieect the
bodies, Tle wanted to know the approxtiuaite tite ol
death, and | fixed it) at) about midnight. Coroner
‘Thweatt, who was also an tindertiker, hen renosed: the

weve bee Coteones

bodies and To locked
up the house and
hurried ta miy olive,

accompanied by my
deputies,

LEVELAND  citi-
zens meanwhile
had = discovered — the
gruesome details of
the murder, and they
were wild with excite-

and laid it beside the ° ‘ eat: f th. ment, fear and a de-
bullet. Feverishly we Filled Women with Terror he sire to lay hands on
continued our search. the guilty monster.
However, we could A’ great) throng was
find nothing else to , gathering oon the

help us except the brad hammer which lay on the bed.
This | placed with the glove and bullet, careful not to
touch its handle, hoping in spite of the glove to get
prints.

Now that I had determined the manner of death,
and finished the search for clews, | began groping for a
motive for the murder, and particularly for the horrible
butchery of the ga little expectant mother. Before
discovering this | had thought first of robbery as the
motive. But no robber save a cannibal would rob the
body of its flesh! Other motives presented themselves
to my mind, but | rejected them quickly. Suddenly the
idea struck me that this was a murder of hate, of re-
venge.

“It certainly looks like

court-house lawn, eager to know every move we made.

It was 9 o'clock when we reached the office. We had
consumed about one hour and fifteen minutes at the
Turner home. Now, however, | had a lead and | quickly
went to work on it,

| called in Deputies Davis, Pearman and Maddox.
“Listen, boys,” | said, “you three get out on the streets.
Cleveland has only about thirty-five hundred people. |
want every single one of them to get this word. Broad-
cast it-—get it started. In an hour everybody in’ town
ought to hear it. | want anyone who has seen Rufus
Lee Roy in Cleveland either the seventh or eighth—
that’s yesterday or the day before—to advise me
immediately, Now get
going!"

it,” Coroner Thweatt agreed.
“Who else could have done
such a deed save a fiend filled
with vengeful passions?”

“Either that or robbery,”
I answered. “And we can
soon determine whether or
not it was robbery.” | turned
to the bed and began search-
ing the murdered man.

RESENTLY I raised up

from my task: “His pock-
‘ets are bare,” | declared. “No
watch or money or wallet—
nothing. It must have been
robbery, after all.”

. | went to the door and
called Edwin Turner to me:
“Did your brother have a
watch?” | asked. “Or a wal-
let?”

“He was hever without
his watch,” Edwin declared.
“He also carried a_pocket-
knife, but no wallet and
scarcely ever any money.”
The watch, he said, was an
open face, seven-jewel Elgin.

Now we began a search
of the room to find the watch.

As the men were hurry-
ing out, Chief Deputy Dick-
son entered my private office.
“Dickson,” [| said, “we're up
against a tough case.
the Memphis Police and ask
Chief Inspector Will ‘TT, Grif-
fin to lend us a couple of. his
homicide squad who are, fin-
ger-print experts. ‘Then’ call
Sergeant Jones over at Sun-

wa

flower Convict) Farm and
ask him to bring his dogs.
There’s just a chance that
they will be able to pick out
the murderer's tracks from
the crowd which has been

around the house,”

Witten Dickson went out,
I turned to my tele-

phone. Tf Roy had com-
mitted the murder [| had a
hunch that he might have

stopped in a near-by town to
make his plans instead of
coming into Cleveland.
Therefore, | called every lit-
tle town in a radius of twen-
ty-five miles and: advised
them to be on the lookout

Deputy Sheriff A. C, Pearman, close
friend and: ‘co-worker of * Sheriff

McLean during the investigation

Just when | was becoming convinced, in spite of myself,
that robbery was the motive, | made a discovery that
banished such a thought forever. In the top tray of
a small trunk, in plain view, | found Mrs. Turner's
an containing one hundred -and_ thirty-five
ollars.

Now, indeed, was | puzzled for a motive. The mur-
derer had stolen a. cheap watch and pocket-knife and
left the money behind!

- Suddenly Edwin Turner called me aside;

“I’ve been waiting until you got through,” he said.
“I’ve got something to tell you. t believe | know’ who
killed my brother and his wife.” ‘

“Who—in God’s name, who?” I demanded eagerly.

“Rufus Lee Roy,” he answered readily. “Do you
recall the time he tried to have Aurelius ind we arrested
for horse-whipping him?” .

“Yes,” | answered. “He had abused his wife, your
thirteen-year-old sister. Yes, | remember.”

MVVELL, Roy thought it was all Aurelius’ fault. He
swore he'd get even with him plenty. ‘You'll
never horse-whip anybody else when I get through with
you,’ Roy told Aurelius.”

This was indeed worth investigating. It seemed a
likely lead. The murder certainly looked like one of
revenge. However, Edwin Turner had not seen Roy in

“What about the dogs?”

for Roy, or to let me know if he had been in the towns
I called within the last two or three days, giving them
a description for him as | recalled him.
a When I had finished, Dickson was waiting to report:
Inspector Griffin is sending us Morris Soloman and
Roger Kennon, two of his best men.” he told me.
“They'll be down on a special plane this afternoon.”
“That’s splendid of the Inspector,” | replied.

“Sergeant Jones will be here with them about two.”
~-. | now sat back to wait results. had gone as far
as I could until something else developed. When the
Memphis Detectives arrived to aid us, and to see if the
murderer had left his foul finger-prints in the house,
then we could go further. If prints were found, Roy’s
could be obtained from the Army for comparison. | |
knew he was an ex-service man,

T TWELVE o'clock Pearman, Davis and Maddox
came in from the street. “We've got your message
started,” Davis spoke for the three. “There's not a
man, woman or child who won’t soon have it. People
are in a frenzy. We've heard of at least three women
who fainted when they heard the revolting details of
what happened to Mrs. Turner. We couldn't bring Roy
or any one else here unless we want them lynched,”
At 1:30 that afternoon (Continued on Page 38)

Pe a ace ite
~ —

Rufus Lee Roy, sufferer from several mal-
conditions, suspected through circumstantial
evidence of having a hand in the brutal crime

ee Wa ae FS
oie

>

194 Look Away!

It’s a hard journey. The land starts falling away and the
Tennessee, fearing he might return again to the beckoning
beauty of the lazy land, rushes headlong down the incline.
He makes four or five big sweeps, expands his chest with
a new exhilaration, and slips into Muscle Shoals.

Natives spell the shoals “Mussel Shoals” because there
were so many mussels there once, but others say Muscle
Shoals is correct because boatmen used to strain their
muscles to navigate the shoals. But then “muscle” is just
another way of spelling “mussel.”

After leaving the shoals, the Tennessee picks his way
lazily through the black land of west Tennessee. Planta-
tions dot his banks. Big men and big mules work his bot-
tom land.

Gone is the beauty of the limestone country and he
becomes an uncle for the cotton kingdom of the valley.
He eases by Shiloh, where Grant fought, and comes at
last to the beautiful Ohio, where he drops his burden and
admonishes his genteel brother to take the load to “de OI’
Man.”

From the loyalist’s land of east Tennessee to the mud
banks of Shiloh, the Tennessee severs the South and sees
everything Dixie has—coal and copper, hemlocks and
pines, mills and machines, cotton and tobacco.

Yes, he is the missionary between our mountains and
our levees. “De Ol’ Man” may be the head-man of the
river clan, but the Tennessee is the river of romance.

26

The Story of Big atic

HE Tennessee River just misses Hernando, Missis-
sippi. If he touched there, I don’t think he would

‘ have found Big Willie at Hernando. He was not the kind

to be friendly with the Tennessee—Big Willie was a can-
nibal.

He was one of the best field hands in De Soto County.
He knew just how to break his cotton land in the winter
time and let it idle until the spring rains made it hungry
for seed, and he knew the right kind of seed to bargain
for. He was a huge yellow Negro with haunting eyes and
arms that dangled like a gorilla’s.

Big Willie always had his rows ready by April. He
never failed to follow the ancient rite of planting his
cotton under the new moon of spring. On planting day,
the big Negro would shuffle to his barn, hitch two white
mules to a middle buster, and go to the edge of his field
and await the dawn. No self-respecting “cotton niggah”
plants until he greets the sun on the first day of the sea-
son. Big Willie would sit on a rail fence chewing tobacco
and talking to his mules in the first glow that paced the day.

“That ol’ sun will be up soon, boys, and we'll get dis
job o’ wu’k started. We'll bust dis lan’ wide open till
dinner. Then we'll knock off long ’nough to rest and
come on back hyar and bust it some mo’.”

195


196 Look Away!

He would keep twisting his huge head over his left
shoulder to watch the approaching sun, and as soon as it
poked its nose over the horizon, Big Willie would leap
between his plow handles, “oiddap” his mules, and start
“bustin’ de lan’ to pieces.”

He could do more work than four ordinary Negroes,
for next to fighting and eating, Big Willie loved to work,
and he loved mules and he understood them. They never
balked on Big W illie. He never overworked them, but
he made them earn their oats. He pushed them until the
black land flowed from the wings of his plow like waves
on a midnight sea. He would give his mules an hour’s rest
for food and water at noon and he used the whole time
himself to stuff his huge carcass with whippoorwill peas
and piles of meat.

Big Willie nursed his cotton, chopped it clean, and
grassed it until it blossomed into a billowing sea of pink
and white and green. He always laid by on July 3 and
“took off” July 4. Then he got drunk, and when Big
Willie got drunk, he fought. £

His idea of a successful Independence Day celebration
was consumption of a gallon of pink lemonade, a quart of
whiskey, three fried catfish, three fist fights, and a knifing.
Then he would go home for supper ae eat himself sober.

Big Willie was well liked in De Soto County. Northern
labor racketeers came to Hernando, the county seat of
De Soto County, and saw Big Willie at work. They
figured he would be a valuable man in the slaughter

I EP ace sab a Oi BAOR Bal ‘esl eee ti. &
MERGES Ta TRUE enema

Te

TPR OPN Tats OT ee

Re ASR Te

The Story of Big Willie 197

markets of Chicago. They talked to Big Willie and told
him of dollars to be made by the hour and yellow shoes
and yellow women.

The white folks of De Soto County told Big Willie he
should stick by his mules and his cotton and his catfish.
Big Willie thought it over and the yellow shoes and yellow
women won, so Big Willie went to the slaughter markets.
He lived in blood there and he missed the mud and the
mules which really were a part of his being.

He tried to get back home, but there was a little matter
of a labor contract he had signed, and besides the white
folks up there wouldn’t give Big Willie the foan of a few
dollars to be paid hack * ‘come Sat’dy.” So Big Willie
brooded. It was like a big mule brooding. It never is good
for big brutes to brood. ‘

Seeking companionship among the only types he knew,
the rough rowdies of the Saturday-night crowds, Big
Willie fell on evil ways. A simple man with a simple heart,
he was easy prey for degenerates, and a short time after
his arrival in Chicago, Big Willie was accused and con-
victed of grave robbing. He was sent to the Big House
for a long stretch. He learned a lot in the Big House, not
about mules and cotton and clean dirt, but about brutes
and filthy dirt.

Paroled, he worked his way back to Hernando and
went to the cotton furrows again. His sprawling feet no
longer would fit the path behind the plow, and he became
restless and a mite curious, so when a middle-aged planter


Ny

2

i

o~
NOSNIGOU

'
2

-~]

‘

coke Clway! 319

A Dixie Notebook

WERE DRAWN BY DOROTHY ROE | by James H. Street

THE MAPS IN THIS VOLUME

Sssty SpueteaeTg pesuey SyoeTq Sozuoty $

we
rddysst

tdd

| The Viking Press - New York

: 1936

*GE6T *5 YouRy uo §


resem

198 Look Away!

and his wife disappeared mysteriously, there was a little
suspicion attached to Big Willie, but there was not enough
evidence to accuse him.

Authorities, knowing Willie’s old mother was a “good
niggah,” asked her permission to search their cabin. They
had no warrant. The old Negro woman, knowing nothing
of the law and believing it always just, agreed willingly.

In a rambling barn back of the shack, officers found a
piece of salted human flesh wrapped in a gunny sack.
Willie admitted he was a cannibal. The big yellow Negro
grinned as he confessed. He even seemed pleased with
himself.

The report of the horror spread like a hurricane. The
sheriff, realizing a lynching bee was inevitable if Big Willie
stayed in Hernando, loaded the Negro into an automobile
and raced to Jackson. He beat the mob to the capital by
a hair’s breadth. Willie was placed by himself in jail for
fear even the other Negro inmates would tear him limb
from limb.

Oh, yes, Negroes have lynched Negroes in the South.
A Negro who committed a crime in Hattiesburg, Missis-
sippi, was lynched by his own clan and his body left in
a tree at the entrance to the white folks’ baseball park,
and Mississippians knew Big Willie would be lynched by
the first mob that got him, regardless of color.

He stayed there long enough for feeling back in Her-
nando to simmer down, and county authorities elected

The Story of Big Willie 199

to take him home for trial. The sheriff called the state
adjutant-general and asked for troops.

“How many do you need?” asked the adjutant-general.

“All you got,” said the sheriff.

He was promised six hundred.

Several companies went in at once and took over the
town. They laid barbed wire entanglements around the
courthouse and jail and planted machine-gun nests so thick
that the pleasant little town of Hernando looked like a
spiked fortress.

All civilians were told to stay outside the barbed wire.
The governor of Mississippi had sworn fo protect the
prisoner and he told his guardsmen Big Willie’s life was
in their hands. Only a selected few knew how or when
Big Willie would be taken from Jackson to Hernando.

For a whole day troops mobilized rapidly. Outfits from
as far south as Gulfport moved into Jackson with sealed
orders. Old I Company of Laurel reached Jackson shortly
after noon on emergency rations, double time, and double
pay. Jackson resembled an army cantonment.

At six o’clock mess, the soldiers got word by grapevine
that the job was to defend Big Willie. Many grumbled
at the duty, many thought he should be lynched without
expense of trial, particularly a trial that cost the state more
than twenty thousand dollars for mobilization of six hun-
dred militiamen to protect a yellow cannibal. The officers
talked quietly to the men and told them the slightest error

eee

i

630 Miss.

would be but one act, the setting of the
fire, but there would be two offenses,
arson and murder, one against the person
and the other against the property. If,
then, there were two disabled persons in
the house, like reason would produce the
result that three offenses were committed.
To pursue the illustration further: Had
one of the inmates succeeded, athough
severely burned, in crawling from the fire,
and thereby survived, it would hardly be
contended that the conviction or acquittal
of the accused for the attempt upon the life
of the survivor would bar a prosecution for
the murder of the other. Thus, in point of
law, the offenses are distinct, although
the product of a single act.

Affirmed.

o © KEY NUMBER SYSTEM

aumse

va PHILLIPS v. STATE.
No. 35368.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Feb. 14, 1944.

1. Criminal law €=535(2)

Where there is substantial evidence
tending to prove corpus delicti, although
not sufficient to prove it beyond a reasona-
ble doubt, confession is admissible for that
purpose.

2. Criminal law €=517(4), 535(2)

In prosecution for murder of aged but
unusually active man whose charred body
was found in burned ruins of his home,
evidence sufficiently proved corpus delicti
to make confession admissible, and all evi-
dence, including confession, sufficiently es-
tablished corpus delicti to authorize con-
viction.

3. Criminal law €=134(1)

Overruling of accused’s motion for
change of venue was discretionary in ab-
sence of stibstantial evidence that public
had prejudged case against accused.

4. Criminal law €=1150

Conviction will not be reversed for
overruling of motion for change of venue
in absence of abuse of discretion.

16 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

5. Criminal law €=1166(9)

Overruling accused’s motion for con-
tinuance because of absence of witness
was not reversible error, where witness al-
legedly overheard officer’s statement indi-
cating confession was not voluntary, and
where witness had moved to another state
and there was no evidence that he could
be induced to return to testify.

6. Criminal law €>1166(8)

A conviction will not be reversed for
refusing a continuance unless accused is
thereby prejudiced.

7. Criminal law €=781(3)

A requested instruction that before
jury could convict accused it must believe
beyond a reasonable doubt “all these things
without regard to purported confession was
properly refused.

———_.—_—_—

In Bane.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Jefferson
Davis County; J. C. Shivers, Judge.

L. P. Phillips was convicted of murder,

and he appeals.
Affirmed.

C. E. Conner, of Columbia, and W. 1.
Hatten, of Sumrall, for appellant.

Livingston & Livingston, of Prentiss.
Greek. L. Rice, Atty. Gen., and R. O. Ar-
rington, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

ANDERSON, Justice.

On the night of November 22, 1942, the
home of D. J. Broom in Jefferson Davis
County was burned to the ground, and he
was burned up in it. Appellant Phillips
and one John Loveless were suspected of
committing the crime of the murder of
Broom by that means. They were indicted
for the crime of murder and tried separate-
ly. Loveless was convicied and sentenced
to the penitentiary for ite, and Phillips
convicted and sentenced tc be electrocuted.
From that judgment he prosecutes this ap-
peal.

Phillips’ conviction was based principally
on his own confession of guilt. It is argued
that his confession should not have been
admitted in evidence because the corpus
delicti was not first sufficiently proven.
The deceased Broom was about 82 years
of age. His wife had been dead approxi-
mately 7 years. His home was in the
country. He lived alone He did the

necessary work about his -iome, including:

PHILLIPS v. STATE Miss. 631
16 So.2d 630

cutting his fire wood. He sometimes
walked several miles. He was unusually
active physically and mentally for a man of
his age. He had a pistol which he kept
under his pillow on his bed, and an axe,
which he kept about the place. After the
fire the pistol could not be found and the
axe was found several hundred yards away
from the home. His burned and charred
remains were found in front of the fire-
place where he habitually sat and nearby
his bunch of keys and pocket knife. The
fire took place between 8 and 9 o’clock at
night. About 3 o’clock that afternoon one
of his grandsons who lived near brought
his supper to him, which was prepared and
sent by his daughter, the mother of the
child. The grandson remained with him
until between 4 and 5 o’clock, when he went
back home. When the grandson left
Broom was in the yard cutting firewood
with the axe. He was never seen by any
one after that. His physical and mental
condition was such as to indicate that if
the fire was accidental he would have ex-
tinguished it. before any harm was done.
Phillips did not testify. The only evidence
in conflict with his confession was that of
Mrs. Ward, she testified that he spent the
entire night of the fire in her home, in-
cluding the period between 8 and 9 o’clock.
The evidence was sufficient to show that
the fire and Broom’s resulting death were
of incendiary origin.

[1,2] Phillips’ confession was free and
voluntary. He stated that he and Loveless
went that night between 8 and 9 o’clock to
the home of Broom for the purpose of rob-
bing him of money he was supposed to
have, and if necessary to accomplish that
purpose to take his life and burn his home;
that accordingly he, Phillips, knocked him
in the head with an axe, from which. blow
he fell over on the floor. They searched
for money and found none, and then set
the house afire and left. That he did not
know whether Loveless found any money
or not, if he did he did not give him any
part of it. One of the principal grounds
relied on for reversal is that the corpus
delicti was not sufficiently proven, and for
that reason the confession should have been
excluded. Our Court and others are com-
mitted to the principle that where there is
substantial evidence tending to prove the
corpus delicti, although not sufficient to
prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, the con-
fession is admissible for that purpose. Per-

kins v. State, 160 Miss. 720, 135 So. 357;
Gross v. State, 191 Miss. 383, 2 So.2d 818;
Keeton v. State, 175 Miss. 631, 167 So. 68.
Applying that principle here, it is manifest
that the corpus delicti was sufficiently
proven.

[3,4] Appellant made a motion for a
change of venue, which, was overruled.
That action of the court is assigned and
argued as error. It is without merit.
There was no substantial evidence to show
that the public had prejudged the case
against the appellant. Unless the action
of the court in that respect was an abuse
of discretion there is no ground for re-
versal of the judgment. Dalton v. State,
141 Miss. 841, 105 So. 784; Regan v. State,
87 Miss. 422, 39 So. 1002; Stewart v. State,
50 Miss. 587.

[5,6] The action of the court in over-
ruling appellant’s motion for a continuance
on account of the absence of one Hodge
is assigned and argued as error. That con-
tention is also without merit. Hodge had
been a citizen of this State but had re-
moved to the State of Louisiana. There
was no evidence that he could be induced
to come to this State and be a witness in
the case. Appellant claimed that he could
prove that Hodge overheard some state-
ment from an officer that indicated appel-
lant’s confession had not been voluntary.
The judgment will not be reversed for re-
fusing a continuance unless the accused is
thereby prejudiced. We do not think that
is true here. Cox v. State, 138 Miss. 370,
103 So. 129; Sanders v. State, 141 Miss.
289, 105 So. 523.

[7] The Court refused an instruction
requested by appellant, which concluded
with this language: “In this connection
you are further charged that before you
can convict a defendant of anything you
must so believe (beyond a_ reasonable
doubt) all these things without regard to
the purported confession of the defendant”.
What has been said with reference to prov-
ing the corpus delicti in part by the con-
fession disposes of this assignment.

What has been said disposes, of course,
of the contention that the appellant was
entitled to a directed verdict.

The other assignments of error are so
manifestly without merit that we refrain
from discussing them.

Affirmed and Tuesday, March 28, 1944,
set for the date of execution.

HANGING OF
TOM POLLETT.

Executed in the County Jail
Tuesday at 12-07 O'clock.

DROP OF - SIX FEET.

Neck Broken*-Died Without
a Struggle.

Tom Pollett, coloved, weighing between
160 and 170) ponnds, wag Hanged in the
county jail Tnesday, Jannary “1, 1902,
The rope was ent 12:07 pm., by Sheriff

B.C. Wileon, and in eleven minutes!

thereafter Pollett was pronounced dead
by Dre 0. I). Swayze, J. Darrington and
J.J. Steinriede. There were some 4 or:
30 present to witness the exceution, whieh |
was conducted without ao flaw of Py
kind, Sherif! Wilson and his eputies |
baving made every Necessary prepara
Hor. Poltott: dropped six feet, his neck.
being broken, and he died without a.
struygle. After the drop there were one
or two drawing up of the limba the hody
then hanging lin.p and strnight without a
convulsion, and at 12:1K p.m... w agent
down and turoed over to Fivediehoree of St.
Stephen's M. oR. Chareh, colored, by
whom it waa taken to the cemetery and
interred, religions aeiviees being: held at
the grave.
Of the number who have been cxeented
in the county jail, Pollett was the most
composed of any. He went trom bis eel
Bmiling wand singing, nnd stood por the
fellows withent 2 tremor Tis Cen pe
sure was situply remarkabis During the.
morning, and for severnl days, Poilett
had been having religious scrviees eld in
his cell conducted by Rey. GW. Sith,
‘pastorof St. Stephen's Chttrea, and tetore
igoing from his cell to the gallows bie end
‘toa Herald representative that tie teed on
fear of death; that he was potng Soa cht
‘to heaven, and he hoped te meet oo of
his friends there and the offteers whe
were to execute him, agninet none af
whom, he saul, hidhe any hard feelings,
that he hol vielated the Laws of the coun
try and was to pay the penalty for so ite

‘ing with bislife: He quoted freely fron:
‘the New Testament, his last words before

being taken fram his cell were: That dn
had fongnt a good fight and had kept the
faith,” anid now he was going Pome.

M3 1/21/1902

T Pollet wun hariged for killing Jimmie.

“Taylor, mother negro, at Lake City, some

‘time Inet yveur. He was arrested soon

after and at the Angust: term or Cirenit
Court was tried and convicted of murder
Inthe first degree, and sentenced to be
‘hanged on tne 20 of Inst October. At the
‘trial in the Clrenit Court Mr W. W,
‘Lookard war appointed to defend him by |
the Court. After the verdiet and sen-
“tariee, Mr. Lockard appenled the ease to
‘the Bupreme Court, which affirmed the
‘Werdict of fhe lower conrt, fixing date of.
exeention for January 21, 1902. Mr.
-Lookard then worked to have the sentence
commuted to life imprisonment, securing
alarge petition which waa prevented to,
the Governor, Md in addition numbers of:
telegrams were nent tho Governor axking |
tab Pollett be rent tothe penitentiary.
He » Longino replied that he could not aee |
at he would he juetified in interfering;
that the privoner had had a fair ana iin. ]
partial {vin} nnd two courte had parsed ,
‘wpon hisense. Whilo the Herald peti- j
itigned for the pardon, it has ho ariticrsm |
‘to’ ‘pase upon the atand taken by Governor |
‘Longino, Had Pollett paid a prineely |
feg tor hia defenee no lawyer would have!
worked harder than did his attorney who |
Ipepotved not a cent.
ike. fpraking of his care just before go-
a'to the reaffold, Pollett snd that the
tence in court against him was pre-
Sidieed; that he did not start the dificulty
1x Fesultod 4u his shooting Taylor and
yt at the time he shot, Taylor war at-
pling to draw his pistol, which he
(ay ue win. Hin bosom, concealed by his
ehiet,: est Ailing was done on a Sunday
ptt Taylor, Pollett and others hav-

Trak 4 ere

a a bt Pollett’s early history is
Abwis: He etuted that he wns born in
mae, March 25, 1882. He had lived
saiteient varts of Yazoo county fora
ene pa fro; and ‘those with whom he
bf spoke well of him. Ie had none of
. neds of a bed negro and apoke

“Kindest. terms of the ofiicers who
shatge of him since his convietion

a 3 ‘sentin y 0,


10 SOUTHERN (Second) 377.

PORTER, Sam, black, electrocuted Magnolia, Mississippi, on 1-7-19)3.

"McCOMB NEGRO PAYS SUPREME PENALTY. = GOES TO DEATH IN CHAIR CALMLY. = McComb, Jan. 7 = With
parting advice to young people to stay away from bad company, Sam Porter, McComb negro,
bravely faced death in the State's portable electric chair at the Pike County court house
Thursday morning shortly after midnight for the murder of Harvey Harzog, another negro.
Death was .ronounced by Doctor J. Ne Smith and Dr. Ge We Robertson, Magnolia physicians,
The condemned man was calm and composed as he walked up to the death chair and as the exe-
cutioner pulled the switch, a negro minister repeated the 23rd Psalm, Shortly before
the execution Porter discussed his crime, stating that while in a fight with Harzog and ano-
ther negro on August 9,, 1941, after the two had jumped on him he slashed the throat of
Harzog who died instantly. Harzeg was killed with his own knife which was taken away
(pes : by Porter in the tussle." CLARION-LEDGER, Jackson, Mississippi, January 8, 1943
2-56 |
"GOWERNOR DECLINES TO STAY EXECUTION. = PIKE ELECTROCUTION SCHEDULED THURSDAY. = Sam Porter,
convicted in Pike County on a charge of murder in connection with the slaying of Harvey
Hertzog, is scheduled to die in the state's porsable electric chair on Thursday, Governor
Paul B. Jonson revealed Tuesday that he had dedided not to commute Porter's sentence to
life imprisonment or stay the execution. The governor said, after a study of the records,
that he would wake no action in the case. The State Supreme Court affirmed the Pike eon-
viction of Porter in a four to two decision handed down November 16 and set January 7 as
the date for execution. The electrocution will take place at Magnolia, ,cords show that
Hertzog was slain August 9, 191." CLARION LEDGERS$ JACKSON, January 6, 1943 (7-26)

"PIKE COUNTY WILL HAVE FIRST DEATH PENALTY IN 1), YEARS, = NEGRO TO DIE IN ELECTRIC CHAIR
THURSDAY. = McComb, Jan. 3, 1943, = The first execution in Pike County in 1) years is
scheduled on Thursday, January 7, in Magnolia, when Sam Porter, McComb negro, will die in
the electric chair for KHWEWREREERZZHB the slaying of Harvey Harzog, another negro, This
will be the first time that the state's electric chair will be used in Pike county, Then
another execution will follow next month, On Friday, February 12, Luther Lee Cooper,
white, is sentenced to be electrocuted for the 'cornfield' murder of his youthful wife,
Annette Dunaway Cooper, which occurred in the fall of 1941, Porter was indicted with D. Be
Swannigan, negro, for the murder of Herzog. The killing occurred onthe night of August
9, 1941, at J. T. Spurlock's place in Mayfield quarters near McComb and Porter and Swanni-
gan were granted a MMRRNBHBE severance in trial. The murder of Harzog allegedly occurred
after the three had indulged in a fight. 1+ was stated that as Harzog was leaving the
place, his throat was slashed causing instant death, During the October term of court in
1941 Porter was convicted of murder and was sentenced by the Pike County Circuib court to
be electrocuted on November 28, 191, The guilty verdict rendered by the jury automatically
carried the death penalty. The case was appealed to the state supreme court and Porter's
attorneys filed a suggestion of error, which delayed the execution, In December, 1942,
the supreme court overruled the suggestion of error in the Porter case and the execution
date was again set, this time the date scheduled January 7, 1943. The trial of Swannigan
was held on October 30, 191, in the Pike County Circuit cour, Swannigan pleading guilty
to the charges and the impanneled jury brought in a verdict of guilty as charged, and
fixed his sentence as life in the state penitentiary. Swannigan soon afterwards was moved
to Parchman where he is serving his sentence." CLARION.LEDGER, Jackson, MS, January h,

1943 (3/36)


PRIMUS, Slave, hanged Greenville, Mississippi

The third capital explation was that of
Irimus, a slave belunging ta Col. Kere
shaw, and valued at fhe fancy price of

$000, Primus waa a cook fit tm have
jrerverl  Donecullue, and onuld take
ihie ax and go into the woods,
yet the timber, bring it to the
shop aod praluce a wagon, and 8 wagoa -
leit ad fur “et ave psy
‘riimus became jealous ‘om a
fellow servant, aud becoming mere
api disagreeable wus sent to the bekbac
a punbohment. Here he sought dat
Pompey and stalled bin to cleath, east
ling and stabbing him repoaudly tlter- \
ally lutehering hin. Tle wae executed
AU ODL Ci revcnsned ven bassete, 26 gt
Hinew port bellum slays “wlth white
winged trees Boating ver we,” the
ereitnns in this lg nuster Woes
(Bree, while the luunicilas number the
ustuuiling vatinate uf SUL bow por wont
of wheiets leave bern wonen ! .
bis DMEM Veawesee Chottens and
(his tame is tne mentions! anyway) ©
were bing itn thee Comet lois yard ose
cn the islentiont opeot where the gallows
tow = tate Cotto lives! on’ Der
Creek, waved we co dears, win | oe weotssnee dleove
wibeog 00006 oof Deere bacosnaee whale a bru
Wlrerrerenprortss C'rot teres goood Nabe aoc genes waned
sleet wr cdbown. ‘Dhee other whem meme
te eeot oneal bend, rovmtob iene inp. Cenwree teed crmnee
Hoved tw cutting wel beyond the Me. :
Brands place, mone three walled alatant,
Having wm clilliculty while Glee seginens Feb.
quarters, he walked lallamlle dat ol bie he
riwl; - bee ectarning hiner, ,:
ther Kinng lve af thre quarters hemd.-
wll woth ow leateber bolle, mrel sony Ue
worting afer stepplug barkwanle walk
hia oS from bbe sloaklag apd struck the
id wsp-whyreendrencing tecoAt--
‘he-itlel thevwinnesesa ill ‘pwirey ed
stismer bedled- off the oll man! and
with Lawam Creston he dropped through
che trap inte eternity.

——

1859

The “next aud Iwad leyal munter beg -
othe mlgerable performance wf peiterday
was that of. Audrew Irey, mw “mil, bdac:
‘ellow of mluut 8Y yeare «fae, be:

washung in ‘79 wr "RU, Lal tase tive, .
ing with » young Woran whe War niet -
Br to his infant elited, wood Ieent-rree. by ¢
jrnluus WAS Curresjendingly crud gs.)
abou si ve, after yiving hee a weal dhe of
reusing she wught shelr in a ne leh
b Wadia, aul whil- sdttin; Son the ond
Of a trunk cursing her infant he heute!
ly detuned that he eleeotshel retern
te, “ ri sUpqere Sor him. On bee
Paiagt lhe leew. pinted mad shoe by +p
- tepesatay betes —tronenad wing. hos_bepia
Ort mod bo Calling bills! the child. - be
tarnpe'd Fron jail alter wrntence aml hied
hist othe witermeast cuntines C4
Vine Wull mbout 100) milew dotgad
C'npet, Dates, the Mclent Mnecif, learn.
Jag of btw Whetenleute aent an Melons
Weputy. tle was re mvrulanced and duly

‘ hung. ncevirding to hoyle,

There iss morwl that the Viner’n reasd-
Pratiuy denw for themeclves, Withamest .
repressing an opinion ne to capital pan
imhnPit, it is oafe proud ter PUP feew the
jereople who will conmprine the Joprelace
WM the world in a theimamd Yeare (sam
now will look lack en wur-day with
ainnzed wonder, (hat. 4 —eordy -
murdered each vt er, but that the eau-

inouwenlt} *
ine vengngedl in the brorrid prac

—

EVENING POST, Vicksburg, MS, July 19, 1884

EGS Pe Se ee eng ee ee ee

, " Kloaal han oed Colimpiy Vite i ZR
PLL INA GL, WAIMS 2 yg DLacg, Meatl- CQ VYOLUMOUS 6 ae 4/22/1938

LOWNDES NEGRO
_ PAYS FOR CRIME

James Phinizee is Hung at
| County Farm For Mur-
_ dering Willis ~~ |

La ee et |

oom

On his way to the gallows |
James Phintzee, Lowndes Coun- |
ty negro convicted of murdering |
| Roosevelt Willis, another” negro or!
this community, said that he
, Wanted the officers to kill him
‘ quickly.
1... Phinizee. was canvicted of Kill:
ing Willis in. the September term.
| of the Circuit Court and the kill.
Ing occurred about a year ago:
; near Crawford. . |
On the gallows Sheriff R. E. We:
|) Smitth-asked the-negro-if-he ~wish-
ed to make a _ statement and |
{James Phinizee made. the. follow: |
{ing statement: "~~ 7 es:
- “I die-tn-- Jesus's name. Save’
me-Oh—Lord,-and-in-the name of |
Jesus, David and Abraham I ask |
{ mercy On IWtry sour

Phinizee walked with a Fal
step to the gallows at 11:43 this
morning, and twelve minutes.
later, Dr. J. W. Cox, county phy- |
siclan pronounced him dead. |
The hanging was private with |
only officials and the press wit: |
nessing it.

!

q
ca


LARGE CARD
54 SOUTHERN (2nd) 667

?

PRICE, Jefro, black, 29, electrocuted Clarksdale, Mississippi, on December 20, 19516,

"Clarksdale (Special.) - Jefro Price, young Friars Point Negro, has been sentenced to
die in the electric chair on March 2, following his conviction in circuit court here on
a charge of killing his wife and mother-in-law, The death sentence was pronounced by
Judge AAXkRaAanXaXXSXSXRXAWA KAR KAR XEN AX FMKEXARXA MAMA Ed Green of Cleveland after the
jury deliberated 15 minutes, Price was convicted of the ax-slaying of his wife Wille
Mae Price and her mother, Mattie Campbell on No ember 19, 1950, Witnesses said Price
and his wife quarreled when she refused to return to Chicago with him." DAILY NEWS,
Jackson, Misse, January 25, 1951 (2:2.) ,

PRICE, Jéffro, black, ha@ed at Clarksdale, Miss @on 12 =20-19515

NAME PLACE — CITY OR COUNTY

iis tir fasati gi icge/

OCCUPATION RESIDENCE

wee Aa pero Or ce Actage, AU -

RECORD

2 F tte
GRIME Degen fy THER:
WMirAr- // /9 LW), 950 |" |
victim ¥P« fe, Wie £5: ET, wv her RACE METHOD
rf KE | Kee.

SYNOPS!S

OL) gee bf Malthe Caught ot Poa Out:

Dn sintreney CMs he. Cane Larne flrs Lute, LAs veh lob Gone
th eS ee eS ee 4a he, juke teed Ler ba ur teatich

bd pThe ; tutther (eeu: He teri Uharee the Fo OE
PAU ge? NIC )

a7 Via he Lia <“ sae EA Art bing LAr hud Raid

he Lr ok din [iA tithe nt.8 ‘ Cs eee taal
[fea e-

TRAC a dicted yor bot . Trad» Ciavreetld yor SHA A OLA. ae .

oe eet: [Fo 7 pet “wea? MM Tne Ligne WKF
Corfectton <chiatot fed | Haatne Corer ceplmesttcd aflanisonn tir, 244 pte at 4 AOPt-

LAST ,wORDS ¢ td Bort Slinger £f cur A ge ae

Te aac Meat nai Bad chet Auscachy Log Go:

EXECUTION

SOWRC

Beth dal, PReodts Fi gudie 12 falfl 4ST,


ADNPCAR at obs acenm
and the Coast Guard WHR FS Tinto a thee
ng. préodrationsito * ground :
yp the mae thes Hoe the general: pr:

; deine’ dct surgery swith,
i Ahorid Keeat (je ihe bagel int In’ hae it
i¢ Line; operators? of. the} Th e ‘Barre
; told the Coast Guard there}.
33 crew, i mem vers | pend: ‘St

: a

TAs om «Progressive Plant- “Having teturned to duty'Cit..»
ets (Dance jiat. paatleipal Audi-| being, wounded, the Clarksdale
¢) toriunr, eh soldier reports that in his spare

‘ nday;: ‘Dee. 23” time he holds classes for one! 941 pe closed)

p. ication.of carillon-|-or two hours each day for Kor-lang wednesd
piety bells fab.) First . Epeetupaiat ean boys that work for his unit. | yenkins, librart

H Church. Tae it “I am dolng my best to teach! day, Thé Libr
7 ‘pm-—Christnas program, atithem about freedom, democracy, | at 9 Thursday 4

‘Baptist Church. |: pete." he said. “They have al-|> There will: t
jonday, Dee, 24° ready learned the English alpha- | for the days the
p-m.—Christimas.. “ pro- bet, as: well as simple arithme-|ed, but anyog

gram and inidnight Mass at St.! tie, Now I'm working on spell-| |turn books

*Elizabeth’s Catholic Church.’ ; ting, the names and capitols of |ping them in th

$4:30' 2 mis Midnight celebra: hh tates ha Wideraphe? . said,
tow of “Holy, Communion: with|S-- geography.” . ‘she

spucnn | Mrs. J. B, Lindsay Burie
“YAt Oakridge Wednesdt

WBE Pobtrilates 5, atinoune ed! fi
7 LIBRARY

The Carneg!

Ore. . i ba!
ship ni bai! ii

Se Read

Jefr | Price, calmly smokinga thé cap Was placed ov
aS: led. to’ the. state's: a id ac ed over thihea

lectri¢ chair. shortly i

pare enema «anna mene

diexecuted In the electric oe
Coshoma han

singing © program. at 7: 36) (Only
ray, (Christmas) night at Si-}
Grove Missionary “Baptist

Peer thee:
th ont Jefferson “and: ‘Hic= the: ‘corridor

All, quartets.and, soloists; Price:.was wt Itai ek
pvited.. The .event: is. Spon- vag eatery
by. the Usher. Board. Llinds }
eager b Beatles Earl, tne ¢

°g ‘Ba+-Clarkadale High gchool
3 stolen!

ah ry

Said:si = for, the
aid \ miply; *‘I'm_ no "strata ral lvoe "Satie ‘Campbells tat

Hed! first ‘tor his. wifd's killin
He! betame’ thé ‘90th person. to
Mississipt's’ portable: .elee-
alr ink the JF years. ped,

Soon—-Lions. Gib at. Alea-|
day,’ Deo. $1.

hadst: Dr.

ie. Horton, pastor: ht ‘the: Clark 1
% dale Baptist :;Church,~and | (he'y):
}Rev¥. S.J: A. Jones) Negro rink
Msiior about an hour. Wednesday;
morning.a$ the County Jail. “and
pexpressed. |: himself: f

Teady,, | iHe .seeming!

fear, 43 Dr. Horton: sal
.Transferfed: from }th

‘| stepped» into. the hall’
Courthouse), at’ bi ie J handeutted sé by’

‘as

& onli bite R! EL

> +| Dickinson as-a¥nierftber of, the

a lnernichett he electto- Public Utilities Commission was
Fu revealeq™ today by. Mayor Kin-

E ; - Mr... Dickinson,
Bata ‘Biipreme. Court who. has served out Aone year
Id oe pote ce imposed i term, was reappointed fora five

ah
p.mi—Cotillion Club ‘dance! patric, Dr.

-Bervices. for FIG 9 B) Lind-*
eny, prominent citizen of Clarks-
dale, were held Wednesday after-

hoon at the Methodist Church :

with the Rev. W.L. Pearson, pas-

} tor’ of the local: church, and

Dr. J; B..Stepheris of Greenwood

*" Offictating: ‘Burial: ‘was: in Oak-

ridge Cemetery.

/ Pallbearers” were ‘Leon Bram-
ett, T. O. Rutledge, Dan Shige
}ton,: Ed: Moore, . Dr: Frank Kil-
W. H( Brandon,
| Green. Seals, and Dr. Fulton
Moffatt of Memphis.

‘A profusion of beatival flow-
éts banked the entire front of
the church and were placed in
the windows at the side. A choir
composed -of Oliver  Shultis,
George Ratliff, Mrs. W..O. Quinn,
and Mrs. A. J.° Blackmon sang,
with Mrs. J.T. Jenkins serving

Yas accompanist.

Mrs. Lindsay
tefnoon at 1:20
229 Leflore A
been {ll for say
her condition.
for the past

Born in. Cla
gay was. 54., FM
been actively
work of: the -«
dist Church. 8h
the Clarksdale
‘Hollins Colle,

Mrs, Lindsay
band, J.B.

a daughter, Mi
ine Lindsay, @

western in

er, Mrs. J.
city; a broth
son of Clar
Mrs. Karl
and a sister

ment of Salis®


Spx Py yce Mi] . 044

: cer cated ASS citi AE Rete cea a
< — ae pen se Sooty ta 1 ed
i De ae eS ta =e

Shi EWA:
Baie atta

”

\Widow of Slain Man and
| His Brothers Among
Witnesses '
thee |
| Andrew Prince, Qi-year-ald negro,
‘was legally hanged in the county
| Jail this morning for the murder of
iJ. L. Odom, filling station ‘operator,
whom the negro shot during a hold-
up, the night of December’ 9, 1931,

Prince who had been gripped with
| deep religious fervor during. his con-
‘| finement in the county jail here
while awaiting execution remained ,
calm to the end. He ascended the>
steps ta the gallows unaided, step-
ped upon the trap and knelt. thete
for a few minutes praying iwith his
spiritual advisor. sO

He refused to make any state-
ment regarding his crime. saying he
had told all there was to’ be® said.
His last words were that he trusted
rin God. |

Sheriff Estus Hudson released the

lawn daenbclias oe at.

|
\

Hatp Es QOES Amé Rich A


{ 443 Wren,

Sheriff Estus Hudson released the
lever holding the trap pt 11:25
o'clock and 16 minutes Jatér Prince
was pronounced, dead by, Doctors
Leo H. Martin, éounty' physician, F,
| L. Suntiners, S. E. Bethea andiF, T.
Bowers who examined him, ,
Sixty-three persons assembled in
the jail to witness the execution,
Among them were Mrs, J. L. Odom,
| widow of the slain man, and Har« tence of death had been pronounced
vey T. Odom and Homer 8. Odom, }on him and that the several stays
his brothers. Mrs, Odom looked out. ,F enestton Tat. Car Aguled 00
of the window while Prince wag on unbalancing him mentally. In sup-
the gallows but she glanced at. his’ port of the contention of petition

Last Hope Fades

Prince’s last hope of life faded
yesterday when Judge W. J. Pack
in circuit court denied a petition for
a sanity trial by jury for the con-
demned man. The petition was pre-
sented by Earle L. Wingo, local at-
, torney, in behalf of Dessie Prince,
mother of the man who died today.
It alleged that Prince had become
totally irresponsible since the sen-

body after the drop through .. the: several affidavits were attached ins :
, trap. Among other witnesses were | cluding one from a local aetna
' former Sheriff Joe B. Gray, who as- | Mr. Wingo, following rejechom f

; Sisted in the preparations for the the petition for sanity hearing. by.

- execution ;Deputy Sheriffs J. Frank
| Williams and B. E.-Hudson, Sheriff
| George Cain and Deputy Joe Cole of
' Lamar county, newspapermen, police
jurors and others.

i
Large Crowd gathers
{ Early this morning a crowd gath-
i ered in tne jail yard under the win-
| dows of the condemned man's cell.
Most of those present were negroes,
but there were many whites in the
| throng eager for a glimpse of the
j Prisoner .or words which he might
; utter. Beveral times Prince’ q dr.
proached the window and spoke, to
the crowd, admonishing all to avoid
the ways of evil and follow the path
of right,, More ‘than. 1,000 Persons
had gathered by 11 o'clock.

The prisoner ‘ate sparingly of the
food which had been prepared for
him, for breakfast. Late yesterday
afternoon he told a represenvative
of the American that he was “not
feeling so. gc0d about eating”.

“Date-yesterday afternoon a crude
coflin was taken to the third floor.
The men carrying the casket passed
by Prince’s cell and he was able to.
see the grim container in which

his body’ would be placed less than
24 hours away, |

Judge Pack, appealed to Chancellor
YT. Price Dale who ruled that Judge
Pack had sole jurisdiction in the
matter. :
The exectition of Prince was with~
out any hitch. The prisoner was led
out of his cell, accompanied by
deputy shetiffs. Sheriff Hudson had
read the death wérrant to him.
Negro prisoners fq the second floor
bull pen shouted htelr goodbyes.
Slowly the procession wended its
way to the third floor and then
mounted the thirteen fata] steps
Which lead to the gallows above the
, third floor of the jail. Through
the little Jatticed green door Prince
passed where a number of. Wwitnesses,-
‘as provided by law waited. The Rey:
Clifton Boyd, colored evangelist. who
(Continued on Page Three)"
men armmerpewmmme sind

he


Se appeal of crime partner, Wexler: 12 SOUTHERN 101.

PRINCR, A.drew, black, 21, hanged Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on April 25, 1933.

"WESLER IS GIVEN EXECUTION STAY AT LAST MINUTE. - A new l5=day stay of execution was granted
Paul Wexler, 18, and Andrew Prince, 21, negro, scheduled to hang today at Hattiesburg. The
new respi e was announced last night by Governor Mike Conner who has held the cases under
gonsideration for a number of dayse The pair stand convicted of murdering a filling sta-
tion operator at Hattiesburg during the course of a %20 robbery, They secured a review of
their case before the state supreme court which held the two were justly convicted and set
their day of execution which was last night postponed by Governor Conner. News of the re=
spite was carried tothe prisoners at the Hinds county jail by Jailer Porter Wells, Wexler,
who came near a breakdown early ast night and had to be attended by a physician displayed
little outward emotion over the news, The negro Prince, almost shouted his undisguised
happiness, The chief executive's a-;tion came in the form of a last-minute respite and
after gallows had been erected at the Forrest county seat and all preparations had been
made for a double execution, 'I have issued an order to stay the execution of both Wexler
and Prince for 15 days,' said the governor, 'for the purpose of conducting further personal
investigation of the case, Roth Wexler and Prinee will be kept in the Hinds jail during
the period of the stay of execution. Governor Conner did not reveal along what lines he
would conduct his 'further examination,' however, it was believed he would conduct mental
tests. Wexler and Prince were arrested last December bt Hattiesburg shortly after holdup
of a filling station there in which Odom was shot todeath, They were indicted jointly but
given separate trials, both being found guilty and sentenced to hang. The state supreme
court recently affirmed the lower court action in both cases, Prince, according to un-
controverted testimony, fired the fatal shot and committed the actual robbery, while Wexler
sat parked in an automobile near the station. The negro testified Wexler planned the rob-
bery, provided the gun and told him to 'shoot if necessary.’ Odom was shot through the
stomach and died a few hours later. Twenty dollars was Baken in the holdup, At a public
hearing Monday afternoon, Governor Conner heard opposing pleas, asking both that Wexler's
sentence be commuted and allowed to stand. He has had the commutation petitions under ad-
visement since that time, Tuesday he personally examined Wexler to ascertain the youth's
mental condition. It was asserted by those requesting commutation that Wexler was not
mentally responsible at the time the crime was committed, Although no petition for commu-=
tation was filed in the Prince case, Governor Gonner had made it known that his decision
in the Wexler case would also govern the negro's case, Wexler and Prince spent a quiet
day in the county jail here. Wexler's mother, sister and sweetheart were permitted to
visit him, According to jail attendants, Wexler Wednesday,for the first time since he was
brought here showed signs of 'breaking' under the strain. Throughout the numerous court
actions and the commutation hearing before the governor, the youth remained calm and ex=
pressend confidence that he ‘would not hange' Prince, officers said, several days ago
demonstrated that he was resigned to his fate." CLARION-LEDGER, Jackson, 7-1-1932 (1/8.)

Article: "STATE SEES IEATH FATE FOR WEXIER," CTARION-LEDGER, 7-15-1932 (1:3.)


1, RR Ek RAO TO a oon ee ey a 7 a4
Pe A ie Es +e ee tog SEN lio t Ba ts

Si §, » és ’ 7 P i - 4 *
pI SE gO Re od NR RRR
PgR RE. Rey Spi ace BE xigeece aes
Cea im

o ~

nd . questioned, About ten, days},
‘alter the death of Odom wi,
made a complete confession involv- |
ing Wexler: - 25: ep Ae

et
anes
Select =

a gether with pencils atu oth

alleged to have been Stolen’ during | ing hag resentenced both Wexler

oo. 4 § One of the guns later was identified | last. year, but the appeal again

So ta tie, eae ee: 4 as the death weapon. - -...- spared Wexler and Governor Con-
EES Mea nee ean ane a ve Se ie ner grantel Prince another stay of
..* (Continued ‘From Page One) Bath Sentenced te Die

eer sae Paee = eae The two were: brought to trial. execution. This stay was extended

Sit ee ¥ ete 2, £: re edie: ae ite a Distri torne exan |
-wa$ with hinyr and:.spoke words of Prince . byes wed. Prince. | 2* # possible important :witness in|
encouragement from the scripture. |}-W®!et’s conviction folles eer rusty me. | further processes.in the-case: _

_ After Prince had been fettered as, sentenced ton Ot ose “‘Werler died April. 19 af the effects |
Sheritr Hudson threw the lover, the | SUSe™ment of the court was to follow [of s self-imposed starvation cama)
tl Lg. ¢, wig - to the a, . . -

oe ’ eave. ote te the negro Counsel for Wexler appealed to ra ane his fast too late to.
ee Se EP E, state supreme court, which euto- | — - |
ne time for Which He Paid | matically acted as‘ stay-of execu-| Following the p oma

rein lente for which Prince pald | ¢ion for Wexler. An sppeal {0 Governor Conner announced no

‘the extreme penalty was committed , followed. After several | forty

{on the night of December 9, 1931, | > 7re “victions were af- | pone Teprieves would be granted
Reeds PS Tr Ss 388") dumonths both. conv | Prince and today being the expira-

ht pt Sie Eg

eee ee, ro ; rt and |

| and culminated @ series of criminal | firmed by the supreme coll | tion date of the last executive satay
lecte: in witch prizice and Wexler} their deaths set for. July a ae 1 Of execution the hanging was car-
iwere partners. Their’ crimes, ac-| 42 appeal for executive clemency | ried out according to the mandate

. oi i - .
cording to’ 5 fter | Was laid before Governor Conner 1D jor the jury which more than 15
cae Ee ertes eure skier hehalf of Wexler and the executive nia ago had found the eae

his arrest, covered a wide terrivory |
and included the wounding of a Personally examined the condemned | guilty of-murder in the-first degree
town marshal at Bassfield in a get- | Yours man. He granted @ stay OOF ‘with capital punishment.

ides . 15 davs pending further study of the
away, ‘ X
Ll ts wre carnage el circumstances. ‘The stay also ap-

and several burglaries. They divid- | #44 to Prince. Just before expira-
ed the cash proceeds of their crimes ! ¥' ‘
; ; tion of the stay the governor an
and were alleged to have disposed ne © Dia sak intelfere
of their. ill gotten goods to a | DOUnced that ne would n
brother-in-law of Wexler who| {utther with the sentence of the |
operated a store in Sumrall] court and preparations were made
: io : for the execution of the two con-
On the night of December 9,! gemned murderers on the morning |
Prince entered: the Standard Oil! of July 29.
company filling station at the cor-{ During the night of July 28 coun-
ner of Hardy street and Eleventh | se] for Wexler obtained a writ of |
avenue and ordered Odom to stick |‘habeas corpus coram nobis from |
lp his hands. Odom complied andj Chancellor J. L. Williams of India- |
Frince took about eight dollars irom | nola who was in Vicksburg at the
the cash register. Odom, according {| time. In the early hours of July
to Prince, continued to move his| 29 members of the staff of lawyers
hands and Prince shot him, inflict- | for Wexler arrived in Hattiesburg
ing @ wound from which the filling | and filed the writ with Cireuit Clerk
Station operator died the following | J. Smith Garraway for service on
night. A block and a half away on | Sheriff E. E. Hudson.
Eleventh avenue Wexler was wait-| The sheriff ordered the prisoners
|

~

ing in an automobile. Wexler, ac- | removed to Jackson for safe-keeping
cording to Prince, had given him | and Prince and Wexler were taken
the pistol and instructed him to! in the dead of the night to the
shoot if necessary. county jail of Hinds county.

For several days the hold-up and! During the October term of court


Ht)
ruction that
‘ircumstanc:

it time of his

' calculated to

ad whether he

‘ourse of crim-

ing his guilt or

fused as_ stat-

» of submission

ant of circum-

ction to disre-
ved that it was
ss or intimida-

.
ee 8

burg, Jno. W,

Good, Vicks-

Attorney Gen-

»f the murder
and sentenced

ids the lower
0 be intro:
confession,
lim a peremp-
iso refusing to
ction as here-

| not show ‘the
luntary. © The
me during the
49, in Vicks-
as apprehend:
Tune 21, 1949, |
rg. There, in
made the al-
he presence of
policemen and
in the ferm of
. by the Dis-
iven by him té
; and answets
ne. The two
the policemen
ully informed
‘eed not make

ST S PULLIAM VISTATE Oc ob Miss. 519 |

Cite as 45 So.2d 578

a‘statement; that whatever he might say
would be used against him in court; that
he was asked if he wanted his father and
mother present and he replied his mother
Was dead and he did not: want his father to
kidw what he had'done; that no threat of
afy kind was made towards, or inducement
Held ‘out ‘to, him; that she" was fully in-
fortned he was privileged to make, or not
to'tiake, any statement; that there was
nothitig whatever in the nature of entrap-
tient; of persuasion,‘ directed to the ‘ac-
¢ised; that his answers’ were. made ‘freely
of his: own choice’ after he was fully in-
formed he could’ take’ a statement’ or not
ag he Wished. ~As. against ‘this, accused

waid he was afraid)? Hérdid not say any -

threats were made towards, or any indiice-
ent or promise held out to; him. Indeed,
tile anid time again he ‘said he’ made the
statement freely; atid that the officers were
kind and considerate’of him. He did say
that the “prosecuting attorney told me in
DeQueen, ‘Arkansas, that if ‘there ‘was. arly
way of electrocuting me that he would try
todo it”. Again “he said ifsthere was any
way in the 'world to’ prosecute ‘a man, he
Was' goitiz to prosecute me” These state-
iherits were riot deflieds However: ‘they
were in no way connected with’ the state-
thent later made by him ‘at’ Vicksburg, and,
indeed, the purport’ of these statemerits is

event. They certainly;were not coriditioned
on his making, or fot making,’ a:confession.
Indeed, in effect, they told accused he would
he'prosecuted to the limit of the power of
the District Attorney in‘any:casé.: “In their

nature they cannot be’said'to be a'threat or |

an inducement: to, the accused to make a
confession. Rather, they constitute-a, warn-
ing to him not to AD BO. bi ge! ated WAM

» Ap preliminary hearing was had on this
question by the trial judge before admission
of the confession. It is evident we cannot
say he did not have, ample evidence to. sus-
tain his conclusion, , the confession was free
and voluntary. i”

And it is pertinent to this question to now
‘temark, as is hereinafter shown more in de-
tail, that practically every statement of
fact contained in the confession, éxcept' his
implication of another person in the crimie,

was’ verified and é¢onfirmed’ by other testi-
mony andthe physical facts.»

[2] We now deal with the refusal to
grant defendant a peremptory instruction.

Mr. ‘Waymire and two. brothers by the
name of Farish conducted businesses in the
same building at Vicksburg. Waymire | re-
paired and installed tents and awnings.
Farish , Brothers purchased, repaired and
sold. guns . and. bicycles. Waymire slept
alone. in the store. He was cruelly and
brutally assaulted, bound. and tied, in this
store, while. ‘asleep. Tuesday. night, from
which assault he died at a local hospital the

following, Sunday. bol be awl ,

i The, confession of; ‘appellant was, in sub-
stance, as follows:. That he, was. sixteen
years of age, born in Houston, Mississippi;
had lived, in different places and. went un-
der different names; that he came to Vicks-
burg..on Sunday before. the tragedy occur-
red ;,..his intention was to get a job on a
boat; went to a picture show; met a man
at the show, and -asked this, party if he
would. help him find a room, to which the
‘other party agreed; the party did assist
him and he engaged a room, at Henrietta’ s
Boarding House, paying, through this par-
ty, $5.00 advance rent for one week; that
he bought a pair of pants ‘anda shirt from
this party, paying | him five dollars for both;

he'would be vigorously prosecutdd ih any ‘that on Tuesday afternoon he assisted, to a

slight extent, some man who was shoéing
horses at.a blacksmith shop. across the alley

‘from the Farish place of business; that

Tuesday night. he got from the blacksmith

“shop. rope and a brace and ‘bit, the where-

abouts of, which. he. ‘had. ascertained that
afternoon, ‘and by means ‘of the brace and

dit bored through the backdoor of, and by

‘means of the rope let himself down into, the

‘Farish building ;.. that he removed his’ shoes

and explored | the building ; that he' saw
Waymiré asleep ona cot; ‘that he picked up
a pistol'near the cot; ‘that “* * * T
hit him én the side of his head with the 44-
‘Colt pistol with the long barrel. I know I
hit him two (2) times with this pistol on
the head,’.and maybe three (3) times. I
was holding this pistol by the barrel and
hitting him with the butt end of it. The
man raised-up on the cot and looked ‘at me
and said, ‘What have I done to you, why do


centers tacmi tint atte OEY

PULLIAM, John West, bl, elec. Vicksburg, M3 5/25/1950

578 Miss. 45 SOUTHERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES

«

case is Brewer v. State, 176 Miss, 803, 170

vith
ed

4. Criminal law €781(4), 829(11) a st:

So, 540, 541, which we think is directly in Defendant’s, requested ; instruction th ‘eleva:
point and wherein this court said: “When jury should consider whether circumstat ie 1
there is a deliberate purpose of calculation ¢S surrounding defendant at time) of, Roth
to corrupt the administration of justice and confession of murder were calculated was ‘
that purpose or calculation is accompanied awaken fear or suspicion and whether ii
by a definite overt act or declaration on the was ignorant of nature and course of crim any |
part of the contemnor, designed to carry inal proceedings in determining his guilt.or” held
that purpose or calculation into effect, the innocence ‘was properly, refused) as, state 7 oer
contempt is complete; and the failure of ing incorrect test and in view of submission % kein
the design becomes immaterial, except as 10 jury of defendant’s account of circum. nothi
it may have some place in considering the stances and giving of instruction to disre 7 meni
punishment to be inflicted.” gard confession if jury believed that it was Wise:
[4] Finding that the conviction is abun- brought mbout byeGat, cures - intima of h
dantly supported by the authorities, the Hen Or was Opus, Se form:
judgment of the trial court is affirmed. as |
“Affirmed, . 7 . ae heck sien said
Ly Harry K. Murray, Vicksburg, Jno. W, thre:

" Prewitt, Vicksburg, - Vance, Good, Vicks ment

© © KEY NUMBER SYSTEM burg, for appellant. ite time

- Geo. H. Ethridge, Acting Attorney G Sstatc

eral, for appellee, _ ee kind

slik: cos kemeenis iba that

. ROBERDS, Justice. | wu DeQ
PULLIAM v. STATE. | Appellant was convicted of the mused pay

No. 37476. | of Jessie Oliver Waymire and senten pod

ag 0 aie to be electrocuted. airs: way

_ { niga s

Supreme Court of Mississippi, in Bane,
. April 10, 1950. ~ :

John West Pulliam was convicted in the
Circuit Court of Warren County, R. B.. An-
derson, J., for murder, and he appealed.
The Supreme Court, Roberds, J., held that
the evidence sustained the conviction.

Judgment affirmed.

1. Criminal law 531 (3) ep
Evidence sustained trial judge’s con-

clusion that defendant’s confession of mur-

der was free and voluntary.

2. Homicide ¢=250 .
Evidence sustained conviction of mur-

he
t

der.

3. Criminal law @?558

In murder prasecution, defendant’s un-
contradicted testimony .that. another man,
unknown to. defendant, :forced him to do
acts which ‘he confessed, did not entitle
him.to acquittal, though he was only eye
witness, in view of: physical facts contra-
dicting such testimony and jury’s function
to determine reasonableness thereof...

“meni
were

On this appeal he contends the lowets
court erred-in (1) permitting ‘to be intro! *

duced in evidence a purported confession, 7 ment
(2) in refusing to grant to him a peremp” ‘inde.
he \

tory instruction, and (3) in also refusing to

grant to him another instruction as here | even
inafter set out. oom i . ‘J én h
[1]. He says the State did not show the End.
confession was free and. voluntary.’ The: be P
crime was committed sometime during the’ phe |
night of Tuesday, May 3, 1949,’ in Vick! pate
burg, Mississippi. Accused was apprehend Ap!
ed in. DeQueen, Arkansas, June: 21,19 Fen!
and brought back to Vicksburg. There, i . ‘th
the Vicksburg City Hall, he made the ak Bi A
leged confession. It was in the presence ¢ que:
the District Attorney, three ‘policemen and of tl
two private citizens. It was in the form’ say |
questions propounded to him by: the Dis: § tain
' and

trict Attorney and answers given by him

the questions. The questions and answeft A:
were written down at the time. The two: tem:
private citizens and two of the. policemen! > tail,
testified that accused was fully informed “fact
by the District Attorney he need :not makg imp!

tw sn Oe OF

ee! ee eee Be ahi MI a i a a a a il

4S SOUTHERN -2nd- 578
PULLIAM, John West, black, electrocuted Vicksburg, Mississippi, on May 25, 1950,

"By George Harmon, (Special,) Vicksburg = Sometime Friday a young Jackson Negro

girl will receive a four-page love letter. She won't have to answer it for the words
will be coming from the grave, 'I am writing to you but you know what is going to
happen tonight,' the letter will say. John West Pulliam, 17-year-old itinerant Negro,
scrawled the letter in the death cell of Warren County Jail here Wednesday afternoon,
That was shortly before he feasted on fried chicken, banana ice cream, fried potatoes
and pickles - before he walked down to the first floor of the jail singing ‘When I Walk
That Milky White Way' and sat calmly down to wait for death in Mississippi's portable
electric chair. When it was all over, the Reve He Se Evans said 'he took it better
than any of them.! If John West Pulliam had picked a town other than DeQueen, ArKey
to hop off a fast freight last June, he might not have been in the chair Wednesday
night. The DeQueen marshall arrested the Negro during a crackdown on vagrants, Pul-
liam confessed to the Arkansas authorities that he entered a second-hand gun shop

here on May 3, 199, and rapped and aged half-paralyzed white nightwatchman, Jesse
Waymire, on the head several times with a heavy instrument, When Vicksburg authori-
ties arrived in Arkansas John West Pulliam learned that the injured man had died

5 days after the crime, He also confessed to the Warren County authorities, Despite
the confession there was some doubt that Pulliam actually committed the crime, or, if
he did, that he was the only one involved, On trial, Pulliam betracted his
confession, claiming he was ordered by a mysterious white man in a dark alley to help
break into the gun shop on the night of the murder, The white man, Pulliam said,
actually committed the murder, This testimony tied in closely with a statement by the
murdered man shortly before he died that he was struck by a 'white man or yellow
Negro,! John West Pulliam was a dark chocolate brown, Shortly before they placed

the black leather mask over his face, the Reverend Evans said, 'John, you're going to
meet your Creator, If it was you, say it, though you told me something else,' ‘That's
the truth,' replied John West Pulliam, repeating that a white man committed the mur-
der, 'I don't know his name but I'd recognize his features,' After the mask was se=
cured over Pulliam's face, the Reverend Evans called to the Negro: 'Keep looking up,
John} Keep looking up}! 'I ain't going yet,' the young Negro replied, Those were his
last words, A split second later Executioner C. % Watson threw the switch sharply
forward and 20,000 volts surged through the boy's body, The electric chair jolted
suddenly and settled back in place, Five minutes later, at 12:16 a.m, two doctors
agreed that the victim was dead, Sheriff J, H. Henderson kept the general public away
from the execution, allowing only 3 preachers, 2 doctors, 5 newspapermen and 10 law 7
enforcement officers to view the incident, Of some 25 persons crowded outside the
jail, few could see the Negro die," DAILY NEWS, Jackson, Mississippi, May 25, 1950

(1: 3&lj)6

580 Miss.

you want to kill me?’. I then told him, ‘if
you do not hush; I am going to.kill you.’
He did not say anything, else and laid back
down on the cot”; that he then tied the
victim’s feet together and to the bed and
tied his arms and hands behind him, and
threw a coat over his face; saw clothes
hanging in the building, and, because his
clothes had blood upon them, he removed
his clothes and put on some he saw in the
store, and left his clothes in the building;
that he then took possession of a number of
named articles; placed them in the grip or
“bag” ; after leaving the building he threw
the grip into the:grass; he left the pieces
of rope and brace and bit at the’ building.
He then ‘identified | the’ clothing’ ‘and ‘the
pieces of rope ‘and brace and bit he had‘ left
at the store and the bag he had thrown into
the grass. He then detailed the personal
property he had carried away.’ He’ was
then ‘asked, “Was any ‘one with’ you ‘or ‘as-
“sisted you in this crime?” He’ replied,
“No, sir, I was by myself and no one else
had anything at’ all’to do with it 9 8

_ The State then introduced Albert Moody,
the blacksmith, who verified the presence of
appellant at his ‘shop ; John Smith; who
confirmed that he was the person’ who as-
sisted appellant in procuring the room, and
who sold him the pants and shirt, which
clothing he identified. Henrietta Richards
and other occupants of her boarding house
verified the room-rent transaction and the
fact that appellant used it until Tuesday
night. The discarded articles were all
found where -appellant said he left them.
The officers discovered the crime. about five
o'clock Wednesday morning, and proof was

made of the disordered state of the things »

in the store, the physical condition of Way-
mire; that he was rushed to the hospital,
and, as stated, died the following Sunday.

It is evident, of course, that the forego-
ing amply sustained the verdict of guilty,
especially since, as a witness on the stand,
he admitted in substance the facts stated in
the confession,

[3] However’: he says another person
forced him to commit them. '! That.was not
mentioned in the confession.. He said that

on the witness. stand.’ .He says-that on .

Tuesday, as he:was' walking: the street, he

45 SOUTHERN .REPORTER,' 2d SERIES

BOG DS.ud Gk eas 48

the brace.and bit'and rope from the black-

clothes and:I had a.25.automatic, Colts,.and 4

‘struck Mr. Waymire?” He replied, “Yes, |

idid not know the other party and had never

‘sir. V9 SL pO in

saw a.man he did not know standing on the
corner of.a street in. Vicksburg, and appel;
lant asked this man about getting work on
a boat, “and he said he didn’t think I could
get on”; that the; man gave him no,en;
couragement “about, getting a job’; ,that
he saw.the same-man that night as; appel:
lant was walking: to, his room; ; he was
standing near the alley which runs between
the Farish: building and the . blacksmith
shop; that this man asked him if he wanted
to make some easy money and he, said he
did not; that the man pointed a gun at him
and forced him. to enter the store;, that he
was a white man;, that this accomplice. got

smith .shop; | that, accysed. went, into the 7
building because this); person. commanted |
him to do it;. that theiother man struck:Mr,
Waymire; that this man-told accusedto |
remove his pants and put qn clothing which
were in. the building. ;, Appellant, said:he |
took from the store certain specified arti- —
cles. . He said, ““Well,.I. put:on a suit.of ©

them wnickles; arid, dimes and pennies”,land
that he “put that;suit over, there,in, the |
grip, and that dirk,.* * * and,some |
shells”, which “bag” he later threw into the
grass; that before his.arrest he had solda ~
pistol he. ‘took from the store, He was .ask- q
ed “The only question. you are raising, in q
this trial is that you were not the one,that

sir’.. He said the other man left, the wit- 4
ness remaining in the building; that he

seen him before or since, Further examin- |
ation was as follows:. Ssh a

“Q. This pistol you picked up from by .
his bed? A.‘ No, ‘sir, I got it from! the
other man’s hand. al ay

“Q. You are the one that: ie in‘and |
got: is S Tope, and tied the rope? ‘Ay? Yes 4

“Q. “And you are the one that went’ ber |
hind this building and bored’ ‘that hole i in”
the door, are you? A. Yes, sir." Hh Hib

“Q. You raised up that big” bar and we |
in, did you? A. ves, sir. :

Jibhy
“QOuo: You went. in the building, dia he ;
A.. Yes; sir ost tain iinpilqalie al

—

te nanaonnant

mH ee On Anret

ioe:

a nag Ben ol eee once)

aoe tA


I

REDMOND, Louis, black, hanged Hazlehurst, Mississippi, April 29, 1881

Lovis Repwonp, 8 colored man of
Ha ichust, was hangéd April 29th, for
the mnrder of his fathersin-law, Nelson
Lee. He protested innocence to the
Inst, thongh it is believed ‘he was

 gnilty.

LEDGER, Brookhaven, MS,.May 5, 1881, 3/1

‘Friday. week, Apnit
Swamthe day appointed!

the af tion of ib Y CCP IAHAN
{ le aE
azlehurst, Mississipoi,

ennee ouatg “ah a: May 7, 1884, 3 fl
the 3 ‘of Lia rather3e-:

. es

law, Welton Lee, som: tite
‘years AZ0. muredista f°)
ter: the killing, Redino ou.
tert ptcd ‘an eacane, tat
captured by. tid oolured men

<a
+
Q
Ld
a
Oe
a.
a.
g
oc.
3
{a
=
po
as

ture reached “this pl ace, m: ined

of coloreit men atarted, out for|
‘tlie purpdse of T fyoching ‘ith,
hat. was prevented , ‘by a few
rofithe white citizens of tom:
‘and Redmond was brooght

jin and lodged in jail. to await
trial. At the , queaing terin
of the circuit cvurt he was
tried, foand puilty ‘and sens
tenced. “Plia' case was cat
ried to the SJapreme Oourt,
and retained for another heat-
ing. He wasiagain | tried and
yentenced. This: time the Su-
preme Court confirmed the
‘poutence,” and an the above
‘nanted ante, be was eairied
from the jail to the. gallows,
where he was executed accor
‘ding to law. Atan early hoar |
in the morning, people could |
be seen poring info town!
from every direction, fo wit-
ness the ‘execation. The

crowd was estimated at about
2,500. (


«es

REED, Jim, black, hanged Hernando, MS, M y 3, 1893

Se HH ASUS SPmohy
phat ¢
ioe v2
2 WAC J
POEL MOY TF)

UGG mi

ee f=

Reet

the bi ‘eer of thie. “int oe

ag

appealed his case to. thie ‘Soy i
Court; but that, Court’ ‘4 firm eds
decision of the lower court,« ag inst ftort

‘arn a8),

was made to have’ *the’ gon fee
‘commuted to “the—wonteninti pee!
life, but if not, done let weon naint ‘and
Wednesday the. 3rd. day of May,’ th

; sentence, rhat of hangitig, will be care

ried owt on: that day, .

eceeal

QUITE a crowd of. peopla:
Herurndo yeStorday,. to: with

baer ag; ae acy

hangiag of Jim Reed * weve) old? Ni
pe D, Be Wall, Some; 12. a

bel dabei

penLsnbhememese a Oe rey Ee hae
Fo Og “ye th

cass. the

({Me

; ie he m0 ava: ze 5 oy Ms

[BID
STAI I¥I>

a (2) )

Ee Jim Reed, a Degro,. -was—hanged
t-Hernando Wednesday manne

fe Wur convicted of the. murd

atrong petition wag Presehted: the:
G, Avernar to commytel: the:  deathy
genlenee, signed bythe presiding’

[ HO! ‘arail,

; D. 3 Wall in August; tg9i* “ ot ee

Bewona D Disuriee Attorney. “ilk !

|Weart Mss iss iP l

DEMec* rt

REED, Jim, black, hanged Hernando, DeSoto Co., May 3, 1893.

“Jim Reed, col’d, who was convicted for the murder of D. B. Wall, at the last term of the
Circuit Court, appealed his case to the Supreme Court; but that Court affirmed the decision of the
lower court. An effort was made to have the sentence commuted to the penitentiary for life, but if
not done between now and Wednesday, the 3rd day of May, the sentence, that of hanging, will be
carried out.”-DeSoto Times, Hernando, MS, 4/27/1893 (3/2).

“Quite a crowd of people were in Hernando yesterday to witness the hanging of Jim Reed,
col’d, who killed D. B. Wallo, some 12 months ago, at Wall’s Station, in this county.”-DeSoto
Times, hernando, MS, 5/4/1893 (3/2).

“Jim Reed, a negro, was hanged at Hernando Wednesday morning. He was convicted of
the murder of D. B. Wall in August, 1891. A strong petition was plresented the Governor to
commute the death sentence, signed by the presiding Judge and District Attorney, but to no
avail.”-North Mississippi Democrat, Senatobia, MS, 5/5/1893 (4/1).


ROBINSON, Alonzo, black,

ANNIBAL

By James Purvis

-

aT aps Pies

near the town of Cleveland, Mississippi. The time
is evening, in early December of 1934. Aurelius
Turner and his wife are sitting in their living room as the
curtain rises on one of the most shocking real-life dramas

T: SCENE is the modest home of Aurelius Turner

ever enacted in Mississippi.

The wood stove, its distended pot belly glowing redly,
hummed contentedly.

Outside, wind that was frost-laden, soughed through
the naked-branched trees of Turner’s farmland.

Turner put down his paper to listen. The wind banged
shut a screen door on the porch in front. He shook his
head knowingly.

“Gonna be a freeze tonight,” he predicted.

Turner was right. The entire North, under the snap-
ping lash of bitter cold, had taken to its overcoats. Now,
the wind that whined outside, brought with it Winter
to Dixie. :

“Yes, sir,” Turner repeated, “gonna be a freeze to-
night.”

His wife, two years younger than her thirty-six-year-
old farmer husband, nodded wordlessly. She was pretty
in a wan, tired fashion. For a moment, the hum of the
stove and the click of her knitting needles were the only
sounds in the room.

° Turner put aside the newspaper he had been reading
and arose. He opened the stove, tossed in a piece of wood.
Then he turned to, his wife:

“The kids asleep?” he asked.

Again the woman nodded. Turner looked toward the
darkened adjoining bedroom where slept a son, Aurelius
Turner, Jr., four years old. In a crib in the living room
where he and his wife sat, slept a second child—Jimmy,
aged two. Turner looked across at his wife and his face,

18

The strange story of a giant murderer who
robbed graves by night and spoke of Goethe 5
philosophy by day

hanged Cleveland, MS on March 5, 19356

coarsened by wind and sun, softened for a moment. In
three months, there’d be another child.

Another child of the couple—a ten-year-old daugh-
ter, Merline—was visiting the home of a grandparent ,
this night.

Turner sighed, returned to his chair and took up his
newspaper once more. Outside, the screen door opened
creakily, then slapped shut again. Turner read his paper.
Mrs. Turner knitted the garment that was to clothe
their unborn fourth’ child. The pot-bellied stove
hummed.

The utter peace and ttanquillity of rural Mississippi
hovered in the Turner living room like a benediction.

Then, suddenly, Aurelius Turner realized that some-
thing was wrong. A current of chill, biting air swept
him.

The newspaper he had been reading, rustled sibi-
lantly as Turner jerked it down. He looked up. In the
open front door of his cottage stood a grinning man.
Sudden rage put small white knots in either side of
Turner’s face.

“What the hell do you mean,” he demanded, “coming
into a man’s house like... ?”

Turner’s words choked off as his eyes slithered down
the lanky frame of this strange, nocturnal visitor. He§
saw the man’s two huge hands. One of them held a
hammer—the other, a revolver.

The chair in which he had been sitting scraped back
as Aurelius Turner started to arise. He never got out of
the chair.

The man in the doorway sprang at him with the lithe,
grim speed of a cat. The hammer rose in a gleaming arc,
then crashed thudding against Turner’s head. Turner
grunted under the terrific shock of the impact and went

z one eye and the
iad crawled across
1g arms encircled
3

isp of terror came
ering grin was on
the Turner home.
|, bright with de-
es of the prostrate
knew.

He tightened his

in turned in Tur-
1 anger, bored into
i holding the gun
mer’s head.
runched through
ed off the plank
k, dead.

as

ta
ta
‘3

ae

LANNE 8D

1 EEG SEY ES

gene

erie

Evidence in the case against Robinson alias Coyner. Hammer was used in Turner murder;

envelope behind hammer contains flesh from Mrs. Turner’s body; knives were used as butcher

knives; envelopes on left contain obscene letters; watch belonged to Mr. Turner; boots were

blood-marked as result of Turner murder;. gun was used to kill Turner, and the dress and
shirt are believed to have belonged to the Turner family.

A weird grin still on his face, the man with the gun
and hammer lifted the woman he had killed from the
floor. He carried her into the darkened bedroom and
tossed her body upon the bed. He threw the hammer
down beside her.

For a moment, he stood there, a towering, motion-
less figure. Outside, the wind soughed through the
naked-branched trees. He took a pocket knife from
one pocket and pulled its blade open.

Long hours later, the gray, ghostlike dawn of a new
day crept through the windows of the Turner home.

The pot-bellied stove was silent. Long before, its last
ember had hissed out. The clammy chill of early morn-
ing was in the room.

In his crib, little two-year-old Jimmie Turner tossed
fitfully, half uncovered. Miserable with cold, the child
began to whimper.

But no one answered. ‘

prs raptor maneenesten

It was little Merline Turner, returning from her
grandmother’s home, who discovered the hideous scene
of carnage that Mississippi will never forget.

Weak with terror and nausea, she ran across frozen
ground to the home of a neighbor where, hysterically,
she blurted out the awful sight she had seen.

Sheriff E. R. McLean, of Boliver County, was noti-
fied. He sped to the scene from Cleveland, with his
deputy, Charles Maddox.

Neighbors, meanwhile, found their way to the Tur-
ner home first. Little Aurelius Turner, Jr., his head
bloody and badly battered, was unconscious, but breath-
ing, on the living room floor. In the crib, suffering from
exposure, was the infant, Jimmie. The two children were
hurried to an adjoining farmhouse and doctors were
summoned to attend them. Nothing, of course, could
be done for either Turner or his wife. Both were dead.

McLean and Maddox arrived at the Turner death

21


‘or a moment. In

-year-old daugh-

of a grandparent, +
.Y

r and took up his
reen door opened
rer read his paper.
:at was to clothe
pot-bellied stove

f rural Mississippi
e a benediction.

ealized that some-
, biting air swept

jing, rustled sibi-
looked up. In the
1a grinning man.
in either side of

-manded, ‘“coming

yes slithered down
cturnal visitor. He
se of them held a

tting scraped back
He never got out of

- him with the lithe,
ein a gleaming arc, ©
ner’s head. Turner
he impact and went


Alonzo Robinson, alias James Coyner, signs confession in corridor of Hinds County mob-proof

jail. District Attorney Greek P. Rice is seated at end of table, at the Negro’s right. Standing

between the District Attorney and the Negro is Deputy Sheriff C. D. Maddox. At Coyner’s left
is Deputy Sheriff Thornton Hale and next to him Sheriff John W. Roberts.

to his knees, his face bloody, his skull fractured.

Mrs. Turner screamed.

With bone-crushing force, the hammer cracked again
and again against Turner’s head. ,

Mrs. Turner’s hands seized the arm with the hammer.
oy The arm grew rigid and hurled her crashing against the
living room wall. She slid down toward the floor, moan-
i ing gently, her eyes wide with horror.

: The man with the hammer ran to where she was hud-
dled. Mercilessly, his arm rose and féll as he beat a
deadly tattoo upon her unprotected head.

Turner, blood seeping from his matted ‘hair, started
to cross the room on hands and knees. Little 'four-year-
old Aurelius Turner, Jr., came running sleepy-eyed into
the room. He ran'to the man who was battering in his
mother’s head and beat childish hands against the at-

me | tacker’s trouser legs. ~

The hammer descended with two sickening thuds and
the child collapsed upon the floor.

20

Turner, a rivulet of blood blinding one eye and the
salty taste of it on his half open lips, had crawled across
the room now. Weakly, his trembling arms encircled
the knees of the man with the hammer.

Turner looked up, and a gurgling gasp of terror came
from his twitching mouth. A fixed, leering grin was on
the face of the man who had entered the Turner home.
Turner saw the stranger’s eyes, bestial, bright with de-
sire, drinking in greedily the soft curves of the prostrate
woman upon the floor. Then Turner knew.

_ “No! Oh, God, no!” he choked. He tightened his
arms about the sturdy legs above him.

The man with the hammer and gun turned in Tur-
ner’s grip. His bright eyes, brittle with anger, bored into
the bleeding farmer. The huge hand holding the gun
raised, held that gun close to the farmer’s head.

The gun coughed once. A bullet crunched through
Turner’s head: and, spent, ricochetted off the plank
flooring of the cabin. Turner fell back, dead.

day c
Th
embe:
ing w
In
fitful
began
But

ET TT ee


At the home of A. G. Simms the officers heard a
still stranger story. Mr. Simms said: “We were in
the living-room about eight o’clock that night when
my son thought he heard some one call ‘Hello.’ He
took his flashlight, went to the porch and played it
over the yard. He saw no one. But when the light
fell on his car parked near the porch, he saw that
some one had written on the side of it. There he found
obscene writing. Another car in the garage had been
written on also.”

[INSPECTOR ROCK and Deputy Pearman returned
to the office to inform me of their discoveries. Now
for the first time we had found what we believed to
be a connection between the letter writer, the attacker
of the Davis family, and the murderer. If the man was
a bold and skillful prowler who would dare go into
a man’s garage while the family was awake only a few
feet away, and call out to attract their attention, then
indeed was he capable of greater crimes. Before this
it Was mere supposition; now it seemed a certainty.

And this spurred us on to bend every human ef-
fort in a redoubled, desperate attempt to get the
fiend before he butchered another Cleveland woman.

The first link was on the way to us at that very
moment! It was coming from Post Office Inspector A.
C. Garrigus of Indianapolis. The Inspector, in seek-
ing to determine how some one in Merigold obtained
the names and addresses of the two prominent. In-
dianapolis Women who received the whecute letters,
had made a discovery that was of vital importance
to our investigation. The women had informed the
Inspector that they were mentioned in recent issues
of the Indianapolis Times newspaper. One of the
women, Mrs. Josephine Wellman, informed the In-
spector that the Times gave her address as 151 Penn-
sylvania Avenue instead of 1510, which was correct.
Since the obscene letter to her was addressed, incor-

hundred troopers guarded this
house when the Turner suspect
rought in for early questioning

The Turners, Man and
Wife, Murdered in Their
Beds While Their Chil-
dren Looked on—Her
Body Horribly Mutilated
—Bits of Flesh Stolen—

rectly, to 151, just as the Times gave it, there was
every reason to believe that the writer had taken her
name from the newspaper!

When Inspector Rock received this startling in-
formation, he notified me and then hastened to the
Cleveland post office, to find out whether some one in
town was receiving the Times.

Now the postal clerks knew of no one receiving the
paper, but they soon set about to find out.

The next day, January 9, luck was with us. As
soon as the morning mail came the clerks hurried
through the papers. Suddenly they came upon an [n-
dianapolis Times! It was addressed to James H. Coyner!

Inquiry developed that none of the clerks ever
had seen James H. Coyner; for the Paper was put in
box 502, and they did not notice who called for it.
And right now we ran into trouble. The clerks in-
formed us that four negro families received mail through
box 502, and that none of them was named Coyner.

"GIVE us their names,” the Inspector requested
Clerk Champion.

They were: Emile Smith, her son Tony, and her
daughter Henrietta; Charlie Mullins and Major Mullins,
brothers of Emile Smith; Lettie Wheeler, a neighbor,

“But which one is named Coyner?” the Inspector
demanded.

“None of them,” Clerk Champion answered. “We
know every one of them. They are old families in
Cleveland. They can’t be mixed up in this.”

Inspector Rock returned to my office. “Who is
this negro Coyner?” he asked. “Have you ever heard
of hime”

“No, never,” | re-
plied. Neither had
any of my deputies. |
sent for a man who
was supposed to know

weary negro in town, but he never had heard of Coyner.
nspector Rock said: “I feel that we are on the
right track at last, but we’ve got to discover who Coyner
is. And we've got to do it without fuss that will frighten
him off. He seems to be a total stranger. But that is
the man we want.”

There was something else troubling me. “It may be
that Coyner is not the letter writer at all. He may
throw his paper away after reading it, allowing someone
else to pick it up and get the addresses.”

However, we could not solve the case b discussing
it; we had to act; and this we did, imme jately. Mr.
Rock wired Inspector Garrigus to obtain from the Times
all possible information concerning the identity of the
subscriber, James H. Coyner.

\

EXT morning this information arrived. It disclosed
that Coyner had. ordered the paper by letter (our
hopes soared now), and sent a money order to pay for the
subscription. Further, the Inspector advised us that he
was rushing a tracing of the letter‘to us for comparison,
and also the number of the money order so that we
could unearth the application in Corners hand if we
needed additional specimens beside the letter tracing.
For the first time throughout our investigation |
saw Inspector Rock smile. “Now things are coming our
way,” he remarked quietly. Nothing ever excited him;
he was a cool, methodical investigator at all times.
The following morning when the money order num-
ber and the tracing of the letter arrived, the Inspector
and | hastened to compare the tracing, known to be
Coyner’s, with the obscene note which Inspector Rock
new had in his possession. (Continued on Page 36)

In this tiny cupola was placed the gallows that marked the dramatic
end of the most brutal crime. But could one life bring back two?

23


At the house Mrs. Dickson had a

‘chance to observe Lettie Wheeler's son.

She heard him speak! ‘Then she hastened
back to us, excited, breathless. “He’s a
tall, yellow negro,” she declared. “He had
on a light cap and wore a jumper and
overalls. And when he spoke his voice was
soft!”

“Splendid—splendid work!” we all ex-
claimed at once, in praise of the plucky
little lady.

Hurriedly now we formed our plan to
arrest Coyner. We sensed, with conviction
at last, that he was the murderer,

More than ever we had to move cau-
tiously. Remember, if we were to con-
vict him at a trial we had to have evi-
dence; and the best evidence of all would
be Turner’s watch and pocket-knife if
found on Coyner. Therefore, Inspector
Rock insisted that we arrest the man at
the post office. It would not be easy, with
sc many families calling for mail in box
502; but with our description and the aid
of the clerks who knew the negroes who
were not Coyner, we felt that we could
accomplish it.

Early next morning, January 11, an
hour before the mail that brought the
paper arrived, Inspector Rock and Deputy
Sheriff Charlie Maddox of Shaw, Missis-
sippi, both unknown in Cleveland, slipped
into the post office and took up their posi-
tions where they could see all who opened
box 502. Postal Clerk Milton Champion
also took a stand that gave him a view of
those calling.

The trap was set. Would Coyner step
into it?

The wait to find out was not long. Sud-
denly, at just 8:15, a negro approached
the box. Inspector Rock and Maddox
tensed. Was this Coyner? The negro ap-
proached the box and took out the mail,
including the Times. Rock and Maddox
scanned him closely. Certainly he did not
fit Coyner’s description. The officers
turned their eyes on Clerk Champion.
They saw him give an almost impercep-
tible shake of his head. The negro was
not Coyner!

“That,” said Clerk Champion when the
negro left, “was Tony Smith.”

Inspector Rock and Deputy Maddox
hastened to my office to advise me. “We
shall try it again tomorrow morning,” the
Inspector said. “In delaying a day or so
we are taking virtually no chances of los-
ing him. No one outside of us officers
knows we are after him. It is much better
to try another day than to go to his
home.”

The next morning, at the same hour,
Inspector Rock and Maddox once more
set their trap. Clerk Champion was again
on duty as the finger man.

Eight forty-five arrived this morning
before the caller for the mail appeared.
Once more the officers’ nerves tensed. The
negro approached the box, inserted his
key and took out the lone paper, all the
box contained.

Suddenly Inspector Rock’s eyes nar-
rowed.- Ile saw that the negro was tall and
yellow, and that he wore a light cap, a
jumper and. overalls! 5

Swiftly the officers looked at Clerk
Champion. This time the almost imper-
ceptible nod of his head spoke plainly to
the men. It said: “This man is a stranger
—he must be Coyner!”

Instantly the Inspector and Maddox
were in action. ‘They stepped quickly
through the small door leading into the
lobby. In a split second they were beside
Coyner. Just as he closed the box and

turned to go, the paper in his hand, Rock

and) Maddox barred his way. Inspector
Rock spoke: “Just a minute, boy. What
is four name?” |

he negro quickly backed away, sought
to circle the men to reach the street door.
As he did so, he said: “My name’s George
Smith. Who’re you?” His tone was surly,
defiant.

“We're officers,” Maddox replied.

The negro’s eyes narrowed; he continued
to back away.

“Stand. still, boy!” sharply ordered In-
spector Rock.

The negro ignored the command.

Suddenly Maddox’s gun was in his hand:
“Stop. boy, I say!”

Without warning the negro’s hand
flashed into his shirt front. But) Maddox
was too fast for him. A crushing blow
staggered the negro. Suddenly he saw In-
spector Rock’s_as well as Maddox’s gun
covering him. Slowly he raised his hands.

A moment later‘ Maddox had the gun
which the negro had attempted to draw
from his shirt front. It was a Colt Po-
lice pistol, caliber .38!

Quickly the negro was handcuffed and
rushed to my office, where a half-dozen
officers waited. Here a thorough search
of him. started. The first article lifted
from, his pocket was an open-face gold
watch! It was an Elgin!

Quickly Chief Deputy Dickson took the
watch, hurried to his files and got the
card on which he had written the number
of Turner’s watch. A moment later he ex-
claimed: “We've got the murderer, men!
It’s Turner’s watch, all right!”

A growl of rage met Dickson’s announce-
ment. There was a moment in which the
officers almost forgot they were officers.

Maddox next discovered a large knife
with razorlike edge, but not ‘Turner’s.
Then came a discovery that sent a chill
of horror through us. Wrapped up in a
piece of paper, Maddox found a little tuft
of hair which the monster sadist had
shaved off the piece of skin that he had
cut from Mrs. Turner.

Now we dared not delay his removal a
moment longer. If the citizens of Cleve-
land discovered such evidence of the ne-
gro’s guilt, they would take him from us
and tear him limb from limb. ‘Conse-

uently | ordered him rushed to the
Greenwood County Jail under guard of
Deputies Pearman, Davis and Maddox,
and City Marshall Ingram. He still de-
nied his ppp

As soon as these officers left with the
murderer, Chief Deputy Dickson and In-
spector Rock hastened to his house to
search for evidence, while | remained at
the office to telephone the news to Dis-
trict Attorney Rice and Chief Inspector
Griffin.

At the home of the beastial pervert, In-
spector Rock and Deputy Dickson made
astounding discoveries. In a dresser
drawer in his room they came upon a
small newspaper package. Unwrapping
this, they were horrified to find the piece
of dried skin from which the fiend had
shaved the hair found in his pocket!

Further search revealed thirty-five ob-
scene letters, all addressed, sealed and
ready for mailing, to prominent women in
Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Chi-
cago, Illinois; Indiana Harbor and Indian-
apolis, Indiana,

It is worthy of mention here that if
the murderer had selected two of these
letters rather than the two which he sent
to Indianapolis, we never would have
found the clew—the wrong address—
which led to his capture.

When the people of Cleveland learned
that we had captured the real murderer,
they went into a frenzy sure enough. But
the prey they wanted had escaped them,
and they were forced to be content with
our promises that he would not escape the
gallows.

The sheriff at Greenwood, a few hours
after Coyner’s arrival there, became
alarmed and hurried the negro to the mob-
proof jail at Jackson, Mississippi. So
there we went the next day, accompanied
by District Attorney Rice, hoping to
wring a confession from the murderer.
He, however, had no thought of confes-
sing. We found that, unlike many South-
ern negroes, he was well educated, shrewd;
which fact had caused the Davis family to
believe their attacker was a white man.
Coyner denied everything, even to his be-
ing Coyner; and when we persisted he be-
came abusive, threatening to kill us. when
he was released. Thus we were forced to
return to Cleveland and begin assembling
evidence to indict and convict him with-
out the confession.

On December 15 | received a wire from
Chief Inspector Griffin reporting on the
Coyner finger-prints | had sent him. From
this we discovered that he had_ received
a sentence in the Indiana State Prison of
from three to ten years, serving seven
years and ten months, for stealing a wo-
man’s body from the grave. In another in-
stance, he was arrested when Detroit,
Michigan, detectives found four young
women’s beads in bis trunk! In this case,
however, the police could not convict him
as they failed to discover from where the
four heads came. The police first had
thought that the negro had murdered the
girls, but later found this not true.

Armed with this information, District
Attorney Rice once more hurried to Jack-

son. There'he attempted to break down
the killer. But Dr. Rice failed; the bes-
tial sadist seemed made of iron. Depart-
ing, Mr. Rice said: “Very well, if you
won't confess and clear your mother and
sister, | will hang them. We have them
in jail. If you did not put the things
belonging to the Turners in your house,
then your mother and sister must have
done so.”

“Go ahead!” the sex monster retorted
with a vile oath.

But the District Attorney’s words must
have worked on the negro. An hour after
Mr. Rice reached home, the Sheriff of
Hinds County, Jackson, called him.

“Coyner’s ready to talk,” the Sheriff
said. “You'd better return at once.”

And now back to Jackson a party of us
started, including Mr. Rice and myself;
Deputy John avis, Charlie Maddox,
Chief Deputy Dickson and Coroner
Thweatt. Inspector Rock had_ returned
to his oflice at Greenville, having given
us his splendid assistance in running down
the murderer. Of course the obscene let-
ter case was forgotten now.

_ This time when Coyner was escorted
into our presence he was ready to confess,
and the like of his confession was never
before heard in Mississippi.

Mr. Rice began: “You remember I was
down here talking to you today?”

“Yes, sir,” the negro replied—and added:
“Mr. Rice, you have my mother and sis-
ter in jail?”

“Yes. Are they connected with this in
any way?”

“No, sir—not at all.”

“Go ahead—tell me about it. I have
heard there were three or four of you
committed the crime.”

“I was alone,” the murderer said. “I was
passing the Turner house when something
struck me and | wanted to kill somebody.
I was born to kill people. I opened the
front door and stepped inside. | saw a
man in a chair reading a newspaper, and
a woman on the bed. It seems like I re-
call two children also. | had my gun in
ene hand and a hammer in the other, and
a hatchet in my belt. | hit the man with
the hammer and he fell down. | hit him a
couple times more and then | shot him.
Then | ran to the bed to the woman. She
just watched me but didn’t say anything.
| hit her with the hatchet five or six
times. | don’t remember hitting the chil-
dren. Maybe I did. I picked up the man
and put him on the bed with the woman.”

Mr. Rice interrupted to ask: “Where is
the hatchet you used?”

The fiend told us its hiding place at his
home. Then he continued, saying that
after he killed the woman he decided he
wanted to cut her. He wanted certain
pieces off her body! ... He had a sharp
knife, he said, and he went to work. He
gave the revolting details, unprintable de-
tails, of his dissection of the. body, and
other horrors .. . He told of wrapping up
the flesh in a newspaper and of carrying
it away. Ile revealed that be bad about
eight or ten pounds salted down in a flour
sack which was hidden at his home in the
hay-barn. Part of it be lost on bis way
home!

We listened to the terrible story with
the blood chilled in our veins. What kind
of monster was this—a strange mixture of
perverted sex lust and cannibalism, with
the added fiendishness of a maniacal desire
to kill!

We questioned him about the -obscene
letters and his attack on the Davis fam-
ily. Ile declared that he received a sex
thrill from sending the letters to women.
‘The savage Sadist denied that he intended
to murder the Davis family. We were
sure, however, that he had meant to do
just that.

As for his crimes in Indiana and Michi-

an, he declared that he took the woman’s

ody “just for curiosity; | wanted to look
at it. Iwas just born to kill people and
look at dead women’s bones.”

In regard to the four girls’ heads, he
said: “I just wanted to keep them in my
trunk to look at.”

When the man had made and signed a
full confession, we hurried back to Cleve-
land and went to his home to get the
hatchet and the flesh. These we found
just as he said we would.

On February 4, six hundred National
Guardsmen escorted Coyner to Cleveland
and stood with fixed bayonets around the

courthouse while a special Bolivar County
Grand Jury indicted him‘and a trial jury
convicted him on the ‘same day. ‘Immedi
ately Judge W. W. Alcorn sentenced him
to die on the gallows March 5, 1935,

On that date, at three o’clock in the
.morning, two hundred and fifty National
Guardsmen brought the murderer t
Cleveland. When he walked into my ol-
fice he remarked to me: “I wasn’t able to
get any sleep on the way over in the bus
The Guardsmen made too much noise jok-
ing with each other!”

le was calm, smiling, declaring that he
was a fatalist.

Fifteen minutes later he stood on the
poe He had a leering smile on his
ips as I placed the black hood over his
head. This smile; however, did not linger
long on his lips. The trap, which plunged
the arch-fiend of sadist murderers into
eternity, was quickly sprung.

For this successful culmination to a
fiendish crime ‘and baffling mystery |
must thank for their untiring efforts, Chief
Inspector Will T. Griffin and Inspector R.
T. Rock: For his keen forethought | com-
mend Postmaster Park: For his intelli-
gent observance of details, my Chief Dep-
uty W. R. Dickson: To Mrs. Alice Dick-
son goes the honors for her exceedingly
courageous work of discovering the mur-
derer’s identity. To the rest of those who
aided us, my warmest thanks.

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The trunk in which were found the heads of four women—
for possession of it the owner of the trunk escaped scot free

bring Roy to Cleveland. There I continued to hold him.

_ On December 29 I received the report on the hand-
writing on the map found in the abandoned car. In
this we were not in error—the writing was Roy's! Here
was a mystery, however, which I never could clear up,
though I was convinced now it had nothing to do with
the murder. No other evidence pointed that way.

© as JANUARY | the search for the negro, Commo-
dore Richardson, ended. Officers at Tullula, Louisi-
ana, arrested him and | sent Deputy John Davis to
return him to Cleveland. When | questioned him he
showed that he had sold the car to another negro, and
the car mystery was cleared up satisfactorily.

The same day the results of the tests made with
the .38 Smith and Wesson revolver came. This gun had
not fired the fatal bullet. Thus, one by one our clews
had turned out worthless.

The next four days, January 2, 3, 4 and 5, passed
with all of us in a semi-daze from our crushing defeat.
The cries of the people of Cleveland for the murderer of
Turner and his wife drove us to desperation. Something
had to be done—at once.

Then suddenly, on January 6, as if evoked by our
desperation, there came a clew. Would this prove to
be as worthless as all the others?

On this morning Chief Deputy W. R. Dickson and
1 were alone in the office; and, as usual, we were dis-
cussing the murder. Suddenly the office door banged
open and Mr. J. C. O'Neil of Cleveland hurried in.

“Listen, Sheriff,” he began quickly, “there’s a bunch
of dirty printing on the side of my home.”

Instantly Dickson and I jumped to our feet. ‘Let's
have a look at it,” | demanded. “It may be the obscene
letter-writer at work again.” Postmaster Park’s words
came back to me, in which he declared he believed the
writer and the murderer to be the satne. Still, it seemed
a poe cry from writing. obscene letters to committing
murder.

HEN we arrived at Mr. O’Neil’s, we followed him

as he hurried to the side of his house. “There it
is!” he snorted. “I’d like to get my hands on the
dirty rascal!”

“And so would Post Office Inspector Rock,” I added.
The printing on the house, done in green crayon, and
the printing in the letters to the Indianapolis women,
were identical!

22

I turned to O’Neil.
“Have you noticed
any suspicious charac-
ters around?” | asked.
“Anyone who might
have written this?”

“No, none,” he
replied. Then sudden-
ly he exclaimed: “Say,
Sheriff, wait a min-
ute! | may know, at
that.”

He ran into the
house and returned
immediately. He held
out to me several
pieces of green cray-
on. “These are my
kids’ crayons,” he ex-
plained. “They use
them to color pic-
tures. Now, listen—
I’ve got two negroes
who work for me around the house and in the garden.
They have access to the house. Well—what do you
think, Sheriff?”

“This may be important,” I answered. “Where are
the negroes now?”

“They’re not working today, but they did yesterday,
up until last night.” He gave me their names—Fred
Norwood and Charley Ward.

Dickson and I hurried back to the office. From
there I dispatched Dickson and John Davis to find the
negroes and bring them in for questioning.

When my deputies returned, each with one of the
men, [| suddenly experienced disappointment. The
negroes’ names had escaped my mind, but their faces
did not. In a small town like Cleveland an officer gets
to know pretty well the negroes who live there and
work for various white people—gets to know whether
they are hard workers and trustworthy, or whether they
are worthless rascals. These negroes | knew well, and
so did my deputies; and we were sure they were not
guilty. Hlowever, | had them give me specimens of
their printing and compared them with the writing on
the house. This proved their innocence, and | released
them at once.

Then, since this obscene letter case was Inspector

Rock's job, E wired him of the discovery, requesting him
to come to Cleveland at once. Of course, the Inspector
was acquainted with Postmaster Park's theory that the
writer and the murderer were one and the same person,
We were fortunate in having such a set of circumstances
—if Mr, Park's theory happened to be true; for now we
should have the aid of Inspector Rock, a shrewd investi-
gator who had the unlimited resources of the Federal
Government to back his search for the writer.

UDDENLY I looked up from these thoughts to see a
negro woman, Sara Jenkins, standing in my doorway.
“Sheriff,” the woman said, coming forward, “Ilyar’s

a letter what [ done found in my mail box, | lives "bout
a quarter mile east of town. This hyar letter am like
dem what folks been sayin’ wuz sent off at Merigold.”

Quickly I reached for the letter, The woman, of
course, meant that the letter was obscene, like the
others; not that the printing was the same. However,
the moment | laid eyes on it, | saw that it was identical
in both printing and in context. [sent the woman
home afer cautioning her to say nothing about the
letter to anyone.

Soon, ~-however, news of our discovery leaked out
and, as it spread, took on color. Within a very short
time all Cleveland was certain that the writer and the
fiendish, sadistic, butchering murderer were the same.
And all the terror which had infected the citizens im-
mediately after the crime, returned; they flew once
more into a fever of excitement. The thought that
such a cannibalistic sex monster as the mutilator of
Mrs. Turner was stalking through the night shadows,
was certainly sufficient to spread terror among the
people; but this was only their imagination, since we
had no proof whatever of the writer’s connection with
the murder. °

While this hysterical state of affairs existed, Inspec-
tor Rock arrived in Cleveland, on January 8. He has-

Cross indicates
where piece of
flesh was cached

tened straight to my office, eager
to lay hands on the obscene letter-
writer. After learning all the facts
he set out immediately, accom-
panied by Deputy Pearman, to ap-
prehend the guilty person.

First, Mr. Rock and Pearman
hastener to the home of Sara Jen-
kins, a quarter-mile from Cleve-
land. Here, however, they learned
no more than I had told the In-
spector.

Continuing out on the high-
way, which they found peo-
pled exclusively by white families,
Mr. Rock and Pearman began to
hear strange stories. At every
house where they stopped they
were told that someone, two nights
before, had written vilely obscene
matter on each mail box on the
highway for a distance of two
miles! No one, however, had
eet either note or letter in his
OX.


whom he had identified as his assailant
in a shakedown attempt. Brennan con-
victed in first degree . . . John Redding,
San Quentin convict, doing time for a
San T'rancisco robbery, is identified as
Robert Scott, long sought for murder of
Joseph Maurer, drug clerk, in 1924 holdup.
Eventually gets life. Russell Scott, his
brother, repeatedly sentenced to hang in
same case, commits suicide.

ERROR: Charles M. Sonberg of De-
troit stuns wife, mixes poison gas to fin-
ish her. But it explodes prematurely and
kills him instead. She escapes.

EXECUTIONS: With nine murderers
awaiting hanging in Cook County jail,
Sheriff Hoffman gets jittery over delivery
rumors and asks gp guard ... John
Hulbert, New York executioner, who has
electrocuted 120 criminals in twelve years,
quits (a nervous wreck, according to some
reports) on eve of two executions. Robert
Elliott succeeds him. Efforts to Wy 6 El-
liott’s name secret are unsuccessful. Later
his home was bombed, ea

PLOT: Budapest ferrets out gigantic
scheme to counterfeit French money to
the extent of 30,000,000,000 francs. French-
Hungarian friendship in danger. Arrests
of nobility, high government officials,
army officers, public employes, society
men and financiers.

ALIBI: In Paris Louis Fourmentier,
broker of hitherto good _ reputation,
charged with murder of cabaret, girl, ex-
plains that he did it, if at all, while suffer-
ing from amnesia, Puts it over.

KIDDIES: William C. Cavalier, sixteen-
year-old Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania,
boy, sentenced to die for murder of his
grandmother, gets commutation to life... .
In New York a seventeen-year-old boy
confesses setting twelve fires and turning
in fourteen false alarms in two months.
... The Terrible Thirteen, a juvenile
gang of North Haledon, New Jersey, sen-
tenced to spend evenings at home for from
three to eighteen months.

POETIC JUSTICE: Federal court in
Chicago gives lighter sentences to boot-
leggers whose stuff is pure.

ROMANCE: Nearly a year ago Rob-
ert Noonan shot and killed Mrs. Catherine
Dempsey and himself when she refused to
elope. Now Mrs. Frieda Noonan and
William Dempsey, the bereaved, who met
at the funeral, announce their marriage.

BANDITRY: Swedish pirate schooner
reported raiding in the Baltic ... Bandits
hold up express near Yurecuaro, Mexico.
Foreigners spared, but no mercy is shown
to Mexicans, who are butchered (some
burned to death) with wanton ferocity.
Troops are ordered out and slaughter
desperadoes in return . . . Bearer bonds
worth $3,000,000 the loot in London street
holdup.

GOOD DEED: Ex-Governor Chase S.
Osborn of Michigan has asked President
Coolidge to let him substitute for ex-Gov-
ernor McCray of Indiana, in Atlanta for
using mails to defraud. Says McCray,
who is in poor health, has been punished

enough.

PROGRESS: Russia starts first prison
airplane service in world to take prisoners
A sa the Devil’s Island of

The Month Twenty-five Years Ago:
January, 1911

MURDER: London has one of its
greatest lowlife sensations in New Year’s
morning slaying of Leon Beron, rich mys-
tery man of the slums and suspected fence.
Case produces many wild rumors: That
anarchists slew Beron as a spy. That he

was a white slaver, killed by brother of a
girl he ruined. The case_is pinned, how-
ever, as a robbery job on Steinie Morrison,
ticket-of-leave man who gets off with life
... The poisoned chewing gum mystery
of Cumberland, Maryland—Grace Elosser
and Charles E. Twigg, on eve of marriage,
found sitting side by side, holding hands,
dead from cyanide of potassium. Twigg
has gum in his mouth. First theory is
that poison was given him in gum by
enemy, and that he passed it to Miss
Elosser in a kiss. This does not hold up,
and further search is on... A good rule
should work both ways: When Mrs.
Brooks shoots down Mrs. Binford in a
Fort Worth department store, the un-
written law is given as the cause...
David Graham Phillips, novelist, mur-
dered by Fitzhugh Coyle Goldsborough,
who believes Phillips has portrayed his
family in a story. Goldsborough com-
mits suicide on the spot.

TERY: Where is Dorothy Arnold,
the heiress who bought a book in a New
York shop, walked up Fifth Avenue, and
has not been heard of since?

PUBLIC ENEMIES: Train robbers
active in West. Holdups near Seattle,
Washington, and Ogden, Utah . . . Kan-

sas at mercy of bank robbers from Ne-
braska and Oklahoma. — Thirty raids in
three months, $100,000 loot, no one in
jail . . . In Brooklyn eight men are at-
tacked and injured by Jack the Slasher,
maniac operating about Williamsburg
Bridge Plaza... Reimund Holzhay, Black
Bart, who terrorized Wisconsin and Mich-
igan twenty years ago, and has been do-
ing life for murder in a stage coach hold-
up, will soon be free. An operation which
lifted a bone pressing on his brain has
resulted in complete reformation, and he
is all set for commutation and pardon.

PLOT: Mysterious explosions at sum-
mit. of mountain in Japan believed vol-
canic until investigation uncovers dyna-
mite factory and plot to murder royal
family. Twenty-six anarchists secretly
tried and sentenced to death. When
twelve—Denjiro Kotoku, radical editor,
his wife, and ten accomplices—are hanged
on a single day, the only gallows avail-
able is kept busy from 8 a. m. until 3
p. m. One thousand New York anarchists
In pices riot.

ISORDERLY CONDUCT: In Cnhi-
cago five are dead in war among local
blackhand gang, and invaders driven out
of New York ... At Grand Island, Ne-
braska, irritated citizens hang Governor
Shallenberger in effigy for paroling an un-
popular murderer . . . In Viterbo, Italy,
a mob tries unsuccessfully to rescue band
of manacled, cursing Camorrists, arriving
to be tried for murder . . . London’s most

spectacular criminal episode, the Battle of,

Sidney Street. Scotland Yard, rounding
up a band of foreign jewel thieves, sur-
rounds two of them, Fritz Svarr and a
man called Joseph, in a Sidney Street
house. The criminals shoot from windows
and battle begins. Thousands of rounds
fired. Nearby streets packed with specta-
tors. Winston Churchill, home secretary,
and other high officials on firing line. Tow-
er guards called out. Many police and
spectators wounded, none killed. When
one of the besieged is slain the other fires
the house and dies in the flames. Bombs
found in ruins. Dispute over whether
house was anarchist hangout.

TRIAL: Case of Mrs, Laura Schenk,
wife of Wheeling, West Virginia, pork
lenis peng et of trying to poison hus-
band with arsenic in lithia water, ends in
jury disagreement—II to | for acquittal.
The lone juror for conviction claims per-

"The Most Brutal Murder on

This was a great moment for us. If
they tallied, then Coyner was our man.
He was in Cleveland; his arrest seemed
certain.

The Inspector laid the tracing and the
note side by side on my desk. “Identical!”
1 could not help exclaiming. And they
were. However, to prove it further, we
hurried to the post office and obtained the
money order application. Once more we
found the two identical. .

With this development, we suddenly felt
a tenseness grip us. We were keyed up to
the breaking point. One false move, if
Coyner really were the murderer—and we
felt he was—might warn him and so allow
him to escape or to cover up his tracks.
We had nothing on him so far as the

36

murder was concerned, and, we needed
evidence if we were to conwet him in
court.

“It is important to take him off guard,”
Inspector Rock declared. “Otherwise he
may dispose of all evidence, both on his
person and at his home.”

We knew, of course, that ‘the Turner
murderer had stolen his victim’s watch
and pocket-knife, and we hoped to catch
one or both on Coyner. Also he would

erhaps have on him the pistol that killed -

urner; and we had the bullet for com-
parison. Therefore, secrecy was essential;
In fact, it was so essential that if we failed
to maintain it, we would forfeit our chance
to take Coyner with the goods on him.
Thus, when we moved, it was with great

secution, loss of job and friends. Schenk
bars reconciliation, will seek divorce. So
will Mrs. Schenk.

The Month Fifty Years Ago:
January, 1886

MURDER: Killing of Bandit Jesse
James in 1882 is still a big topic. Latest
is that ex-Governor Crittendon of Mis-
souri, suspected of some part in it, has
been ruined politically thereby. Rumor
denied .. . Paris jittery over eleven major
murders in less than a fortnight. M.
Barreme, prefect of Department of Eure,
slugged to death in railway carriage and
thrown on tracks, believed victim of po-
litical revenge . .. In Dakota George Mc-
Cabe, five times married, acquitted of
poisoning two wives, is victim of own
guile. Current wife sees him put something
in her tea and switches cups on him, He
dies in agony of the poison he intended
for her, confessing that he murdered all
four of his previous wives . . .Battle Creek,
Michigan, is in wild excitement over the
Whites. While Mrs. White is at church
her husband butchers their two daughters
with a long knife, lies in wait, kills her
when she returns, then commits suicide.

ROBBERY: Ghouls busy in Georgia
cemeteries, stealing cadavers for dissec-
tion in medical schools . . . An enterpris-
ing thief has stolen a ‘red hot stove...
Leander Smith sets out to burgle the Rob-
ert Pugh store near Wilmington, North
Carolina. Climbs to roof, undresses, tries
to do a Santa down the chimney. Wakens
Mrs. Pugh, who lights a fire under him.
The more he struggles the tighter he is
caught, and a windlass finally is needed
to dislodge him.

ALIBI: Paris shoplifters discover Hyp-
notic Kleptomania (pinching the stuff un-
der influence of a stronger will) as a good
excuse that frequently leads to acquittal.

PUBLIC ENEMIES Epidemic of
robberies with firearms in upper Hudson
River _ towns—Irvington, Tarrytown,
Dobbs Ferry—leads citizens to form armed

atrols for protection . . : Capture in

ew York of Billy Porter, King of Burg-
lars, pet of Marm Mandelbaum, the fa-
mous fence. He is suspected also of mur-
dering George Leonidas Leslie, who
pencet the $3,000,000 haul at the Man-

attan Savings Institution in 1878. Billy
is wanted for a $14,000 jewel robbery in
Troy in 1884, and has been trailed by
Pinkerton men ever since—to England,
the continent, through several foreign
jobs, and so home.

RACKET: Two men named Myers and
Beaumont have gone into business on a
ranch near Gravenhurst, Canada, where.
for a fee, they hide American_ fugitives
from justice. Inspector Tom Byrnes of
New York digs up the story while track-
ing down Frederick (Pinky) Fishel, the
$75,000 embezzler.

MOBS: Near Dublin the Misses Cur-
tin are threatened with violence for testi-
fying against their father’s murderers . . .
After three unsuccessful attempts, a deter-

mined posse at Vincennes, Indiana, lynches
Holly Epps, Negro murderer.
CRIME ON THE BORDER: Apaches

on warpath under Geronimo have mur-
dered 200 whites and raided scores of
ranches. Captain Crawford of the Third
Cavalry, on trail of marauders, is slain
by Mexicans in league with the Indians.
Oldtimers in the Southwest say trouble
will not be ended until Government dis-
arms all Indians, orders out troops on use-
less garrison duty in East, and tries
Apaches in civil courts like any other mur-
derers.

Record" (Continued from

circumspection.

Now | had a plan which | submitted to
Inspector Rock. He approved it, and I
called in Deputy Dickson:

“We think,” I told him, “that Mrs. Dick-
son, since she is in charge of the relief rolls
of the Social Welfare Bureau, may be able
to accomplish what we dare not attempt
without running the risk of alarming Coy-

“Mrs. Dickson will be glad to help us
if she can,” he answered quickly.

Therefore we sent for my deputy’s wife
and explained our plan to her. Immedi-
ately she agreed and hurried to get her
records.

Fortune favored us. On the relief rolls
she found the name of Lettie Wheeler, a

THIRD DEGREE: Indignation over
British officer in Burma who forces con-
fession from native by putting him in
front of a firing squad among just-exe-
cuted corpses ... . Still more indignation
over another officer who bids firing squad
hold fire while he takes photographs of
doomed men.

PLOTS: In London John Magee
leads guilty to attempts to blackmail
Priece of Wales. Seven years ... Sharp-

ers swindle hundreds in Florida land boom
until New York Herald publishes expose
... Dynamite plot in Chicago. Socialists
have 9,000 bombs ready for May | revolu-
tion; are arming and studying charts of
instruction for street fighting.

The Month One Hundred Years Ago:
January, 1836
MURDER: In Fredonia a four-year-
old boy stabs a playmate to death,

POLICE: New York (population 250,-
000) has only Chief Constable Jacob
Hayes and guard of twelve for daytime
protection. For night service there is an
unarmed watch 600 strong, 300 serving al-
ternate nights.

TRIALS: Captain Powell Oliver of the
brig Tiber not guilty of driving John Gas-
par, sailor, to suicide by cruelty... Dan-
iel Sullivan guilty of choking and beating
his wife, Ellen, to death in one of the
grandest public family fights in New York
history. Seven years . .. Fieschi, Pepin
and Morey on trial in Paris for attempt
to murder King Louis Philippe. -

PENOLOGY: Ino the Austrian army
punishment is corporal, severe, often given
without trial. What an officer may inflict
is determined by rank. Colonels may order
fifty lashes, majors forty, and captains
twenty-five ... Private Thomas Ramsey,
an English marine, given 250 lashes for
a minor offense, dies of lockjaw.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT: New
York newspaper feud leads Colonel W.
W. Webb of the Courier and Enquirer to
thrash di Gordon Bennett of the Her-
ald in Wall Street .. . Riots in Paterson,
New Jersey, when officials try to stop bull
baiting . .. In New York police are called
to eject riotous drunks from Mayor Law-
rence’s New Year's open house.

PLOT: Another slave revolt nipped in
Louisiana. Two whites lynched for par

in it,

PUBLIC ENEMIES: The Murrei
gang still makes news. gras Tipton
slain by a gambler in Little Rock. In
Wheeling Peter Cassiley plots kidnaping of
two slaves belonging to Andrew P. Woods.
He promises them liberty, but really plans
resale. The slaves see through him, re-
port, and he is jailed. Mississippi and
Tennessee fear raids of Murrelites and
freeing of Murrel himself from prison.

AW: A proposed anti-duelling stat-
ute in Louisiana provides that the victor
in a fatal duel must’ pay victim’s’ debts
and support his family.

RACKETS: The English ship Buzzard,
making pirate raids on the African coast,
has captured 1935 slaves for the Havana
market in a year, a new record... New
York pickpockets have chosen the post
office delivery window as a good stand
. .. Unscrupulous officials have made a
racket of arresting poor folk on charges of
looting after the great fire of December,
1835 .. . Counterfeiters busy in New Eng-

land.

STATISTICS: Pensacola has no jail
... The king doesn’t like to sign death
warrants, so London has had no execu-
tions for two and a half years... Phila-
delphia has had none since 1830, and only
three since 1816.

Page 23)

woman who held a key to box 502!

Delving into the woman’s record, Mrs.
Dickson found that she had listed, in 1933,
a son, George Robinson, as living in Chi-
cago. We wanted to know whether he still
lived in Chicago. Could Mrs.. Dickson find
out for us? She could—and did. She hur-
ried to my office with the information.
Lettie Wheeler’s son had lived in Chicago;
he now lived in Cleveland! He had lived
here for three months only! And he lived
with bis mother—who received mail
through box 502!

Now _Mrs. Dickson made a courageous
move. To obtain a description of the son
she visited the home of Lettie Wheeler, on
the pretext of reviewing the woman’s his-
tory for the purpose of record.


ROGERS, Robert, black, hanged Philadelphia, Mis&issippi, on Oct. 28, 1932.

01S Poplar avenue _
Philadelphia, Ms 39350

ey

6 January, 1978

Gear Mra Bspy,

{i'm sorry’ took so. long in answering your letter,

weshoba Lemorcat, eptember 30, 1932, “Aogers Roberts was convict:ed

in “eptember term of Gircuit-Court of Nesho

: bts: a tex Wir ant P 4
ba vaounty and senteneed

5 Poo hangeoan ¥ m ‘ 5 onrs a A + | r rm¢ g 74 o < Res AT oy
to be hanged on October 28, iséz, for the murder of Miss Jcrline NoNeal

he te ek

490 year olf white woman whose battered and

3 Me 3 ‘Las pare pante - = sn be Yap Nd MoAaYs + Oy, i ae . ge doe $) ”
@ heroes. OL tne .#emocrat furthe a 5tates nat

ont ft te 5 Ww Nena ‘gg = a. A }
S alter ne was removed tot

ry

Tes al Ae rn no NT m } fi OZ Pa a wWwanunn = ap on
wesnooa “enocrat, November 4, 1922: Hobsrts qeero. dies on gallows
Scala he b te 7. a Fer } fo ff 2° AAR i
for Diutal crine. uxecuted at 1:55 Pp,

see §=65OGay was refusged by wite-

buried by county in ‘ opewell vemetery,

P * Sar hh - aaah De + A eee bee \ on NT Sas UR ey ee am
4 believe the archives in Jackson Nas tne Neshos Democrats on

e Gyood Look with you project, | Sincerely,

#lorence Mars.


Mt NE dh Led g

/AMOS ROGERS HUNG FOR MURGER,

Amos Rogers, colorad. was hanged at |
the county. jail iast Kyaday, Nov, 22;
Sheriti: Bovett. puviing the jever thar:
shot the murderers soul into eternity at |
;&llan tre morning. and six mines
tater the doctors pronounced him dead
and his body was cut down and taken!
lo We potters field, east of town where
it was burned.

This was a record hanging. both as
fo thy Quicknteas of the death as well
as for the speedily carrying into effect
of the sentegce-cl- the court: He was
tried on the 6th of October, and splen-
did counsel was appointed for him by
the court, but in face of the facts
brought out all counsel could do for
ihim was of no
|cOnvincing to all, even if he had not
admitted it, with alleged extenuating
| circumstances. on the stand.”

The crime. for which-he--was.-hanged .
was the killing of his wife in Indianola.
,on Saturday night, August 13. His
| wife had quit him and was working at |

'a cook for the family of Col. Bookout |
isaid he wanted herto go back to him, |
‘which she refused. He then stabbed
her eight times, broke her neck and
threw her into’ the bayou, where her
'body was discovered ‘the following
|Sunday morning. Passers -by on the
west side of the bayou saw a woman's
j body lying “as “though a murder had
| been committed the officers wére sum-
1 moned .who --discovered a -grewsome
jsight. It was -evident a murder had
been committed, and a man’s jumper
was found that ted to aclew-that it
was Rogers, who had bcen seen with
her the previous night. Officers were
Heent-to Sunflower-where he wat.atrested
and placed in jail,

{to him in-ms cett and---as there were no
{colored ministers present, Rev. A. F.
| Crittendon, of the First Baptist Church
| Prayed for him’in bis sell after which |
{he was lechqut.

On the scaffold Rogers did not refer
rto the crime excépt in his last prayer
he warnad all to keep away from bad
company, which had brought him to
the scaffold... -He never weakened and
kept his nerve to-the last. He prayed
it-the-old  time-ging -soag manner and
jthe only request:-he made ‘was that his
body be sent to his home in Alabama
Sheriff Boyett read the death warrant

Rogers stepped. gamely onto the stee]
trap door and Deputy sheriff Becx

ham put the black —Cap.on his head

{Ginced. Sheriff Boyett, with his hand
onthe lever, said, °Rogers. have you

fer-replied =Di-g ~FOpe--amtootight, its

| Choking me io death.”’ With that the

{shot down, breaking his neck. ma king
i'He came down from Sunflower and: {death

| tending physicians Pronounced him

and adjusted the noose about his neck,
then he securely - bound his legs. while,
Deputy Doak Mathews Stood behind

him in case he weakened, but he never

se to-say: “and-the-mur der-

Sheriff puiled the and Rogers’ body
4.most: instantaneous, The at-

dead in six Minutes, the record time

tor speedy death on this jail gallows.