»
wees re evare
-""On the eh day of April, 1887, sixty days
| gfter the crime, hé waa lodicted, and in less
than five days thereafter Was convicted, aud
on Aptil 24, 1887, @ motion In arrest of judg-
Ment ou tochuical grvunds was wade, re-
sultipx io the qdashing of the indictment as
' defective.
He remained in jail antil the November
term ofthe same year, when on the 22d day
of November, 13887, the graud jury returned
mnotber Judictment on which he wus at
ence tried ana convicted and sentenced in
due courses. of time to suffer the penalty of
death us presorided by law, and to-day made
the limit of life with him. .
The facts #e stated by him on last Wednes-
day to the Picayune correspoudent vary
‘with those nade at tho juceptiun of the case
in these particulars: He said that he and
Ernest were driving the ouwe home and
playibg along the road (all in good humor);
that by accident he made Erneat bite his
tongue, which was bleeding profusely. Te
asked Ernest if he intended to tell hia mother
when he got home and have bim whipped
for it. Ernest declined or failed to say what
he Would do. Jim did not want to be
‘whipped... He struck him with the light
‘wood znot which be was carrying home for
“Xindling wood, and not specially prepared
“so st the child with, as previously stated
- py him. ‘
- After striking him once he continued the
blows until there was no witness against
<him-as to making Ernest bite his tongue.
“He did not desire to kill him at any timo
t satay to the tires blow and was sorry for
:$t Bow. If it was to do over again wqua
- mot kill him.
; ne ee a son of Ben Cornelius, one of
- the beat colored men in Louisiana. Ho has
: helped is sun in thie matter by employing
_Rinreounsel and called at the jail with bis
-mosker to comfort Jim ta his last hours.
(Jim is short Duilt, stout, black skinded and
. thick lipped, with a degree ef shrewdness ip
“pome things, but stupid and duilin othera.
.- He manufactured reasons and explana-
“Rlons at the time worthy of the best intel-
lect, and yet he looked like a thicks-skulled
:4diot. He-was bold and cool until the blood
‘waa. discovered on Lis sho¥s; he was then a
*Yeady witness againet himaeif.
' - He has been cold and indifferent to the
:@ifaation throughont hia inoarceration and
" tial, and since Conviction has shown uo dis-
‘Turbanve, Unless 1% be in the last few days.
He tas had ministerial comforts, and says
“thd he Knows the penalty «f wrong doing,
“ete. He says he has had, during his year of |
_oonfinement, the best of attention from
: Pherit Reagan and his deputies and jailers.
&. The galiows ou which Jim to-day met his
@eath ia for the second iime the
“Jaw-avenging instrument’ in tbis parish,
“It .i8 eitaated inside we jail
“on the first floor, cousistlug of two
“Mipright rails extending frvin the’ tloor
S80 the ceiling with trap dovornalf-way be
"into the earth whore the wey Boor has full
“fall, faving the Victim fully tn the earth
‘prior to burial, His black coflin has been
“prooured for several days and has been a
- Silent admonisher to all visitors to the jail
aoe would soon Claim one more vic-.
,
B:
a
Ke
-
pia, who left the platform at 20 minutes past
i123 o'chegk, eutling the trap in # twinkle of
Eigen abe coctor prongunced him dead from
[oe The sheriff after a short delay buried the
: ej Lame people refusing to receive or care
tween these. [thas abouta six foot “dig” |
VYhe closing scenes of the lifts of Jamas |
Cornelius, tue wanton slayer of the ctila
Ernest Wren, crowded thick and fast on him
Yorday, as iid-day was hisdvowme@hour, At
~@nm Garly hour the negroes bexan tu Cumeto
-fown to take afinal JooK wt on of Luelr race,
whom they have been wancius to mob for
shiscrimme on a While child over olice Ils Ov
pearrence. ‘They were nob avell Gisorcerly;
?Bhoey atood around the jali, soveral hundred
‘@tronx. Luey desirent to golbto tne jJall te
see him, Yue Suen Reagan kopt them at
, Day.
> ‘AG 11:30 o’clook tbia morring have, HH. O.
-Whate, Miethoulsr, aad W. a. oe cuee, bo pist,
galuieters Of Cus piace, Comte miei gieve odin
Fepiricnar cous. guile astules later
‘Kev. Brauk durapnticn, courted MeLhaodlat,
bypeiged last wud ead pigyes und almglog
MOXercives foc a few minules,
* AG1O minutes aller neon cle sheriff pro-
of to tae cell uf bdo prisouer aud luna
:feow winutes ted him down the stops, his
hands tied pefure him, the boy singing in a
behear voice “Por-Going to Jesus.” He was
‘willing.’ Ho mopnted the platform com-
“posed and manifested no break in his coun-
stenance or voice. Hesuhi: “All my {friends
‘here, farewell; I am going Lome oa high,
Tell my mother I amin heaven.”
&- ‘The biack cup was then placed over his
ead and ued and the rope acjusted around
; *meck. During these minutes he was
joging about the same words as when he
CRS AOwn the steps and was very com-
‘The: fall was 735 feet, The boy: fell with
eet force, but so great was Kis-witality
hia:-peck was nos bdroksn, andin 8 min-
6413 o’clook and 38 minutes the body was
mmeoyed and placed in the coffin, which, for.
sew Minntes rested in the open alr in front
ethe jail, where a large number of his
ple looked at his corpse. .
esis fie
CONNERLY, H
uit ot ( Wa : aoe ble ck .
ashing ton) oe .
St ae “| os, a
5-1910
- Tale afte 900
nogto. go years ‘
murder of pierce,
partied ‘@hom b
{ngto®’
Cooverl¥ 6
lows ‘made ¥
tentiaty: "Phila 16. the
“penitent
confineme
| This afternood at 1 o'clock Rugh Chanerty,
Beero, 24 yeard of age. was executed Hor the
;murder of Ed Pleree, deputy sheriff of Wash.
: ington Parish, whom he shot Seor, 17, H
Connerly drop to hls death from tbe gal-
‘lowe made wittiin the walla of tle Kale Peni.
tentiary, = Thiel te the frat execution of the
Beart of Contro), as! required by the act of 1910.
Rut ted che pest Month the boerd will be kept
buey with be Ags. One fn scheduled for next
Weiday. This Gas to bave been a double shang.
Ing, but one off the negTOrS Aled. On Des--oa
fouble executida te to taka placer atlie the
followlag Friday thers ‘a to be a banglog, with
several eTeict ian made by the euurts, Making
th Se seven Beheduled. hs
_ Connerly Was'brougut ta the Penitentiary Mon. -
;Uay ad Paco) In solitary confinement, Iw
jcoufeaned relighhn to Chaplain Jobna, Me aala
| that be Was trady to dle, |
The gallows | way arranged ao that ft was,
hiddea from - ¢tew. except ta the legal wit.)
Pewnod required: by law,
The pxecutioner's ‘name will not. bo given one.
The rad hy Which the trap dooce ta sprung ts
eparated by a vall from the Sillows, and the
fits Yu Ak ty person “who operaton the trap door cannot he
i aeen by the witueases, nor can he Witness “tho
| tragedy. ae. cin Bite?
Pils nica | Conndely kinéd Deputy Sberice Rd Pleren, at
Ler} : Washington Farleb, who, tn company with
Deputy! George: smith, Went to arrest a negro
/ ts ath 1G (6 named | Owcar ! Dickerson, mren miles from
/l om MF rank in ton, paged wan ‘there, and after
pies : be. t the officer, ~ ven)
uly Boerl{€ George Saiith, ‘who was with
i Phares lwhea be wan “killed, ¢ame tmm Wash-
‘Inyton {Pariah Ao witners the execution, and it
{a Ddelipved that he sprung the trap.
» There were only five witnesses to the hang.
‘Ing. Two mekabers of the board, a8 “tequlemd
by jaw, witnesaed it, Judge Kligore aad J.:T,
‘Young, Dr. fiieriing :
egro dita
Copperly: 0. }
Copperiy walked to ne .black |
cap, as being edjanted {Durlog |
the poag of: the rulnisters, agreed |:
upon sign fra elves, | band from |
behind the wa and the negro
fall to fhe end o the neck was
not broken {a on Was & joc.
¢qea, abd tn tleven minutes the va pre
Lponnced tend Sterling
é add Keinp. ‘ See Bie
.. Connerly bes
made # confes
executed,
ee ee
. eemncemnren: @ merges Me ame He Ome = : ger ~ iS hee
MURDERER WOUNDED AND CAPTURED.
(Special to the
Franklinton, La. Sept.
Pierce, a deputy sheriff, was killed last
night at Warnerton, ten miles nerth of
Meese cane cee = eh Soe OSE OES LS
DEPUTY SLAIN ‘BYNEGROATFROLIC; |
fa See annie “hp ior domi gmee hye
joa gi ro cenmie: lan
‘
4
‘ Ed Ww. Pierce Shot and Killed at Warnerton While He epanaie With
Desperado—Brother Officer Powerless to Save Brave Official.
Picayune. y
here, by Hugh Connelly, a negro.
night at Warnerton,
one of the negro. vrevellers,
drunk “ang. diserterty,” Was
- While! “pelng: Ted“af Connelly,
“his: ince, Z<pyjected “Oo Ure arrest,
proceeded “4a Interfere by ‘drawing : m
turn Connelly was wounded by George
Smith, another deputy,
the dark ‘until captured by a trio af
* geputies, A.C. Willtams,
and H,. N. Rimmons, of this place,
“had been went dut by Joe N. Maxee.
| the sheriff, early this morning, a few
| ~ hours afger intelligence had
the sherfff, who. was sick abed.
Pierce and Smith, ax peace officers,
had been ‘engaged to police the vicinity
of a social gathering of negroes last
Oscar Bickham,
becoming
‘arrested. |
who Is.
and
“gud and fatally*ashooting Pierce.» .
‘Smith ‘endeavored | to protect his ‘com-
panion, wh6,: “unfortunately,
“pled with. Connelly 2ins
fen‘ to” “be: consyaaus a
the Besperate. ‘Gonneliy.. and smith,
: MaeDUty,, who. bie irfed to Set a ne
Te
ey
is.—Ea W.
but escaped in
Abner Magee
who
reached
had grap-
puch — a manner
Arrier between
tine
pr event nlaWeru
shot withortt ene Inngering the life ot}
Plercee. \ \;
When Pierce fell mortally wounded
and Connelly ran off, the Jatter re-
cetyved thrde bullets from | Smith's
pitsol, fired dn thre darkness, Bickham
Bot away and {4 #ti)l at jarge.
Connelly ‘Mankged to’ iet’ to the
house of one of his friends at Clifton,
several miles diptant, where he was
found shertly afterwards: vy the party
of deputles, who brought him here,
and he is securely loc ked pp. Hiss
wounds were fuund to be’ not ‘xerlous
and wefe dressed by Dr. 4. a,” Brock,
the parish suTBeON, Ve eee
. Connelly tap browder, of Cy ey Con-
nelly, who tas change here fourteen
years ago for Killing | EN} is ae
white man. "e JER?
Pierce wad ta. $on ‘or Fatwart | Plerce,
of Brockdale]} He! leayas ‘albra er, Dr.
H
;
—_————-~ =
en nt perenne Seg Sas
wo rre
gm
AST, Plerce; int), Ma nol ‘Miss. band
many Ain thid peguion! Iu bn et the!
sheriff,in this pegtion, jHegleayes three
small sig hie agd a! lwid val tho {s a:
ulece tx J. 4M. arid J. tock, of;
Bice haaie | ‘and t. epinan, f Wash-’
ington Parjsh. i
Extra pré¢cdutidns are. ara ie to
demon tvs ons, of
onuDery i. " J
4
i
violence: against
fon
pall tr ssi
"New Orleans, Jan. 27, 1882-The first execution that has occurred here since 1877 took place
today. Thegoveernor refused to grant Augustus Davis, the condemned ravisher, a respite, and
he was hanged in the parish prisbn at 1:53 o'clock, Only about 300 persons were in the
jail yard, but a large crowd of negroes gathered on the outside of thebuilding. Davis dis=
played no emobtion whateve, and died almost without a sbruggle. .To thelast he protested
this innocence and just before the drop fd 1 repeated theassebption that he did not commit |
the crime for which he was executed, ad not the character of the man been so prominent, he
might have secured a respite. In conversation with Sheriff Brewster this morning, Governor
Mctnery asked if the report was true that the condemned man had importuned for the company
of a female and was informed that no later than last night Davis had asked for a female
companion, and had made the same request the day sentence of death was passéd on him, The
governor then told the sheriff to hold the man until the last moment, and accordingly the
execution was deferred until nearly 2 o'clock, the Limit allowed, There were no incidents
worthy of mention except a groan of horror that went up from the negro women who witnessed
the execution when the fatal trap was sprung and the body of Davis fell with a dull thud to
the end of the rope. Death was caused by suffocation,
"The crime for which Davis was hanged was committed in the suburbs of the city, near
Carrollton, on the evening of Sept. 17, 1881, Mrs. Elizabeth Dietel, a German woman, 65—
years-old, had been to pay a visit to the spot where her son had been killed in a railroad
accident. It was the anniversary of the death, and the old woman was following what had
grown to be an annual custom, Shelingered about the spot until late in the afternoon, and
then started on her return home, As she reached an unfrequented part of the suburbs, she
was met by Davis, who seized her, dragged her into the high weeds skirtine the roadside,
and, despite her violent struggles, accomlished his hellish purpose, Mrs, Dietel was so
badly injured in her struggles with the brute that she was unable to move after he made off,
and was found by some laborers shortly afterward in a senseless condition, The police were ©
notified of the outrage and Davis' arrest and identification by his victim speedily
followed, A true bill was found against him Oct, 11, 1881, and his trial and conviction
followed on the 25th of the same month,
"Davis was an old offender and had served a term of 2 years in the penitentiary for the
crime of rape on a mulatto wman several years ago, During his confinement in the parish
prison he constantly protested his innocence; but said he wasnot afraid to die as he had
madehis peace with God, He leaves a wife and seven children," NEWS, Galveston, Texas,
1/28/1882(1/8)
DAVIS, Augustus, black, hanged at New Yrleans, Lae, on Jan, 27, 1882,
DAVI3, Augustus, black, hanged New Orleans, LA 1-27-1882
id in- : ‘
YAT16 WR Ree Crecis
New VRE Cir %; Mew Yoko ke
Pig fae & PL
P /2
DAVIS, George, black, electrocuted New Orleans, La,, Avril 29, 1919,
"PENALTY IS PAID BY GEORGE DAVIS/ DIED IN CHAIR FOR SLAYING OF HIGHWAY
PATROIMAN, = George A, Davis died inthe electric chsir in parish vrison
Friday for the murder of a Mississippi state highway patrolman, The
33-yecor-old slayer, convicted for the fatel shooting of Patrolman Cyril
Reichert on January 27, 19117, entered the crowded execution chamber at
12:10 p.m, and wes pronounced dead seven minutes later, Led by a Catholic
priest and accompanied by deputy sheriffs, Davis sclanced uuriously at the
more than 75 persons gathered in the room as he walked with hands clasped.
He stood in front of the state's portable electric chair, then quickly
turned and sat down, Davis smiled faintly and dropped his eyes as the
executioner began the work of fastening his body with heavy leather straps,
Only the whisper of the priest chanting a prayer was heard in the room for
seversl minutes as the ae worked, When he had finished, he
stepped back and asked Davis: 'Have you anything to say, George?!
"THANKS soa, PRIESTS,
Davis, speaking barely above a whisper, renlied: 'Nothing except that I
want to thank the good sisters and Father Miller, And I want to say
thanks to those who were friends to me.' Davis spoke of the nuns of
the Convent of Mercy and the Rev. Joseph Miller, S. J, And as he spoke,
Davis! eyes filled with tears and his chin quivered. But the faint trace
of a smile showed on his livs again as he winked at an acquaintance,
The heavy leather mask was placed around Davis! face and fastened, his
head drawn tightly against the back of the chair, The executioner said:
'this is going to be a little bight, but it won't hurt fouq! The exe-
cutioner quickly stepped from the chair, half shouting, 'Goodbye, George!
and at 12:13 p.m, threw the switch that sent 2,500 volts surging through
Davis! body. Twenty-two seconds lster the current was cut off, At 22:15
Pem., 2 second charge flowed through his body for 10 seconds. Dr. ¢.
Grenes Cole, Orleans parish coroner, pronounced Davis deat at 12:17 p.m.
Davis awakened in his cell early Friday and displayed no signs of emo-
tion, deputy sheriffs said. He greeted Dale Simpson in an edjoining cell
and together they ate a breakfast of ham and eggs, Simvson is also
under the death penalty for the pistol slaying of Detective Nicholas
Jacob on Labor day, #98. XkE
"WEEPS IN CELL,
"Later in the morning, deputies said, Davis wept briefly in his cell,
At 10:45 s,m, Davis was escorted to bhe prison chapel by deputies where
the death warrant was read to him by Chief Deputy Sheriff William
Grosch. Davis then took communion with Father Miller and was taken back
to his cell, Shortly before noon, Father Miller entered Davis's cell
and they prayed together, At noon, Davis walked to the door to bid sood~
bye to two nuns who sat outside. He laughted twice as he spoke with
them. ?éllowing the execution, Davis' ody was removed to the morgue
where it will remain four dyys. Father Miller said if the body is not
glaimed by a relative, it wnterment will be in St. Patrick's Cemetery
No, 1. Criminal Sheriff John J, Grosch, Sr., said Davis‘! widow, in
New Braunfels, Texas, has written that she does not intend to claim
the body," TIMES-PICAYUNE, New QYrleans, La., h-30-19h9,
DAVIS, Bud (AKA KNOX, Henderson), black, hanged Monroe, La., 12-17-1909,
On November 16, 1909, the Governor signed 9 desth warrent to Sheriff J,
P, Parker, Jr., directing him to hang Bud Davis, who had heen sentenced
on October 30, 1909, on Decmber 17, 1909, Death Warrants, State Are
chives, Baton Rouge, Lou&siana,
"NEGRO PAYS PHNALTY FOR CRIMINAL ASSAULT. /Monroe, La,, Dec. 17, 1909-
Hencerson Knox, alias Allen Davis, ealiss Liehtnineg, alias Bud Davis, was
hanged here at 2 o'clock this afternoon for criminatly assahliting Litlie
Lee, 9 9J-yesr-old negro girl, The crime wsscommitted on the cotton mill
place s X8K% mile below Monroe on the morning of Sept. 10, 1909. This is
the first legal execution in Monroe since 1897, when Pat Payne was hanged
for wife murder, The full limit of witnesses was present in the inclosure
while surrouyding the premises was a crowd of a thousand people, a
majority of whom were negroes. The vrisoner was brought from his cell
surrounded by Sheriff Parker and his deputies just before 2 o'clock,
When Knox reached the scaffold he mounted without a quiver and to all
outward anpearances was the coolest and most collected person in the
inclosure, Throughout all the preparations the negro chewed a piece
of gum, even continuing as the black cap was pulledover his face,
After he mounted the scaffold he was asked if he had any statement to
make. He replied by shaking his head, indicating that he had nothing
to say. His spviritual adviser, Rev. BE, D. Coley, c olored, c alled on
the man to sav something, to tell the peonle good=by. Knox spoke to
the preacher, who turned to the witnesses and said: 'RBud savs trust in
the Lord}!
"The black can was then placed over the nepro's head and the trap sprung
at one minute before 2 o'clock. He was pronounced dead in twelve min-
utes, death resulting from strangulation. His neck was not broken, although
the drop was seven feet,
"Knox died without confessing to the crime for which he was hanged. The as-
sault on the little sirl was most brutal and he wes proven the ecuilty
party bevond the question of 9 doubt. When on the way to the field with her
father's breakfast she was stopned bv Knox, who after a few KHKAX words,
struck her with 9 pistol. In the strugecle that followed the child's
clothing were almost torn off, She wes badly injured. The necro es-
caped to Columbia on 9 freirht train that pessed soon after the crime
was committed. He was captured there bv the sheriff and returned to
Monroe that fight. His identification was complete. Knox was indicted
BXEKRXEMAKA by the grand jury in September, tried and convicted Oct,
19, and sentenced to death on Oct. 2& 23, His death warrant was XEXHE
issued Nov. 16. Knox was identified yesterday afternoon as the negro
who, under the name of Allen Davis, alias 'Lightening', was sentenced
to five years in the Penitentiary from this parish for attempted
criminal assault on a negro girl, There were two charges, but he was
tried only on one, By good behavior he was discharged April 25 this
year, after serving four years, Knox said he was 37 years old and
that he was born at Meridian, Miss, His first offense, he said, was
the theft of $11 from a man in Meridian, for which he was given a road
sentence. He eseaped from the road gang, He refused to tell what he
had done between 1902 and 1909 when he was executed here,"
TIMES-°ICAYUNE, New Orleans, La., December 18, 1909,
Copyright © 1978 by Elizabeth Shown Mills and Gary B. Mills
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Rees ce
GRE RAT
ane
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data:
78-57824
Fe a ee
§
Printer and Binder: Adams Press, Chicago, Illinois.
TO GARI
Whose ties to
A
UN Aaokahts Bay
Tales of Old Natchitoches
ELIZABETH SHOWN MILLS
GARY B. MILLS
With Foreword by Sue Eakin
| Vol. 3
| Cane River Creole Series
; The Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
seenstaiaeeeetinense ene cies
S26 OD 0 SD SD) Ca 0-H) aie oy
2) ED { ) ND () > (> RD () ED () cam <) ae <) i TD (.
Pye
MAJOR SOURCES: Thomas Jefferson to Congress, February 19, |
1806, Ex. Doc. 113, 9th Congress, Ist Session; French and
Spanish Notarial Records and Successions No. 3382, 3390, Office
of the Clerk of Court, Natchitoches; Registers 1-5, Parish of St.
Francois des Natchitoches (Now the Parish of the Immaculate
Conception).
Natchitoches is situated .. . on several small islands
formed by the Red River... The fort is a simple
enclosure of poor palisades with five iron cannons of
caliber four. Within the fort are the house of the Gover-
nor, a store house, a jail, and a guard room. All
buildings, except the governor’s house, are ina very bad
condition. The fort is situated on a small hill by the
river bank, and rises about forty feet above the water
level.
Captains Nugent and Kelly
to Governor O’Reilly, 1769
Behind [the fortj, and at some distance, stood a
number of little wooden houses, in a straight line but at
large intervals from one another. They might amount
.:. to the number of seventy, and constituted the whole
French settlement on this part of Red River.
Vicomte de Pagés
Travels Round the World, 1760s
fe 0s 0-290
0D O SOL OE --O-E OE)
Murder and Justice—Colonial Style
October 9, 1765 was a day of mirth and madness at
Natchitoches—but as days went on the untamed frontiers
of America, it was not so unusual. Raffish merrymaking,
jovial but tipsy sport, and fatal foul-play were more com-
mon than bizarre in a wilderness in which savagery and
fear were man’s constant companions.
Michael Bruneau, the merchant, threw a party that
fateful day. Spirits were high by the time his wine supply
ran low, but it was still to early to end so fine a spree.
Francois Dudoit, the thirty-one year old trainer of
parakeets, invited the merrymakers to his own house
where they could kill another jug of wine. The party
spilled into the street and swaggered as far as the home o1
Pierre Crete, the Canadian merchant, where all were in-
vited in to share brandied pears with Crete and his young
bride.
The Canadian’s invitation was a fateful one. The
mirth soon turned into a melée. The brandied pears
reminded Bruneau of the wine that Dudoit had offered
them, and he demanded the promised jug. Michel Degout,
a middle-aged master sculptor from Paris, offered to go
out to buy a pitcherful—at Dudoit’s expense, of course.
But Degout returned emptyhanded to his thirsty
friends. The voyageur who had recently rowed into
Natchitoches with a new supply of wine had refused to
sell any to Degout. When Crete, the host, left his guests
and easily procured a jug, the intoxicated Degout turned
sullen. Harsh words were exchanged between the two and
Degout left again, swearing that this time he would bring
back wine.
Instead, the scuiptor headed in the opposite
direction—down to the house of one of the other revelers,
23
heh agli
ee etapa,
Unwell, Theodosia could not travel overland, so had booked passage for New York on
the Patriot despite the danger posed by British warships following the outbreak of the
War of 1812.
The Patriot sailed out of Charleston harbor and never was seen again. It was believed
that she had been lost in a storm off Cape Hatteras. Almost eight years passed before the
mystery was solved in New Orleans.
During this period, privateers were doing a lucrative business against Spanish ship-
ping in the Gulf of Mexico. Among them were Jean Desfarges, captain of the two-gun
schooner Bravo, and his first officer, Robert Johnson.
In August, 1819, the Bravo captured the Spanish schooner Filomena off the coast of
Cuba. On Aug. 29, she was in the waters of the Dry Tortugas with her prize when two
vessels approached. The newcomers proved to be the United States revenue cutters
Louisiana and Alabama.
The Bravo prepared for battle. The Alabama closed with the privateer and a biisk gun
battle followed. Several privateers were killed before Desfarges hauled down his flag.
The prisoners were taken aboard the Louisiana to the Balize, near the mouth of the
Mississippi River. The Alabama followed with the captured vessel in tow. ?
Later that same year the two officers and their men were tried and convicted in New
Orleans. They were all sentenced to death, under provisions of the Neutrality Act of
1818.
But finally the authorities decided to execute only Desfarges and Johnson, and the two
were hung from the yardarm of a US warship in the siceteiaia It was then that a
confession they had made in prison came to light.
In this confession, Desfarges and Johnson said they had — sailors on the Patriot
when the schooner made her last voyage. After Theodosia Burr came aboard at
Charleston and the ship had been under way for several days, the two men overpowered
the small crew one by one at night.
Then they stole from the sleeping passengers all the valuables they could lay their
hands on. Sailing the schooner close to shore, they locked the passengers and crew below
decks and scuttled the craft. Then they put offin a small boat. Behind them the vessel
plunged to the bottom. There was no one to tell tales.
No one, that is, but the two murderers themselves. They kept their secret for almost
eight years, but the long shadow of the yardarm gave them tongue.
His daughter’s murder was one more tragedy in the strange and violent life of Aaron
Burr.
151
DESCHAMPS, Eitienne, white, hanged New Orleans, La.,. May 12, 1892.
"New Vrleans, La., April 22-,..Htienne Deschampbs, who seduced and
murdered a lé-year-old girl, named Juliette Belsch, was to have been
hanged today but he was reprieveduntil the board of pardons can take
action on his case. His crime was one of unréé@ieved brutality and
there is no question of guilt, but the plea of insanity has been RAXAKA
raised in his behalf before the board of pardons,"
JOURNAL, Knoxville, Tennessee, XM April 22, 1892,
+ 3 ~ vy
VRSUNMAMIr 2, MULLENME ,
The beautiful women of New Orleans flocked to the bearded savant,
anxious to unburden their troubles and be cured of their ills,
until murder opened their eyes to the
vil
aL PEACH aT
BY 3’ George Kecaer JONES
\ \, -
New Orleans in the mid-1880’s was a lusty, booming, wide ‘open city. While French and Creole
aristocracy dined formally in great candle-li it salons behind wrought iron balconies, fires burned .
and African drums boomed in Congo Square. The prim, parasoled wives of cotton brokers rode
about in phaetons while in Storyville the madames of gilded bordellos paraded their wares past
the windows and advertised their charms openly in local newspapers. Sailors from the schooners.
and steam-packets in the-harbor swarmed through the French Quarter to the saloons and honky: .
tonks of Royal Street. In the dives of Darktown, people like Buddy Bolden and Bunk Johnson
were boys in knee pants, just getting around to inventing jazz.
In April of 1886, there came to this southern melting pot a man nobody knew.
He was first noticed at fashionable. Galatoire’s restaurant on Bourbon Street, where he began
arriving punctually at 4 in the afternoon and sitting alone at a table, A handsome, distinguished-
icpking man in his fifties with a neat gray beard, he dressed conservatively and in the height of
good taste,
Women glanced toward him admiringly and inate among themselves, He was straight and
strongly built, and there was a certain curious personal magnetism about him, It was noticed that
he spoke in French to the waiters, Apparently: fe Was a: Parisian’ who [Cc ontinued on’ page 75)
Lat totes ) Lae i ae
i's LSS
2wes; who
ashington,
d that she
vers about
scoffed at
‘e is he?”
if I knew,
- me, and
’ was -her
iat on the
a restaur-
> the rest
gh a rear
e insisted —
her with
ic frantic .
ie had be-
Carroll to
‘come en-
1 go, vou’ll
ore head-
-e of Cap-
ashington
roll would
he pretty
ryan that
guilty of
isn’t sure,
she said,
». I raised
the floor,
dine was
e, wiping
1, told me
on, and to
ined to'do
nd of tip-
‘nt out. I
». I came
went out-
from the
z, and he
ad to get
they hade
on North
s. Carroll
their new
1 had in-
Chey had
», and she
3:30 or +
t. I must
The next
ood com-
terrible!”
vith long
ie detec-
ail about
emently:
back—I
ig for me
wants to
t, empty
vhat im-
, ordered
ar, every
girl said
and the
stined to
i the eve-
ender at
nue, one
idra but
horough
larters..
ed to the »
slender,
rink, his
over the
’
}
~ headquarters,
‘then shrugged. “All right,
booths and tables, as if he were seeking
, someone,
As the detectives dexterously ranged _
themselves besidé him, the man squinted
in surprise, then snarled two. eloquent
words: “Coppers—Sandra !”
‘Carroll admitted his identity with an
air of ‘sullen yo ae aetih But once at
became loquacious,
jocular, and a fonatatahend of denial. In
his urbane pretense of complete inno-
cence, he even insisted that he had not:
seen his paramour, Sandra, for pver a
month, _..
When the trembling girl was brought
before him, he glared at her wordlessly,
I was just
tryin’ to protect her, just like I was doin’
when I ‘killed that guy.’
“What do you~ mean?” demanded
Bryan.
Carroll’s meaning, | Water he soon
pends clear, left the detectives skeptical
and unimpressed. He said that he and
‘Sandra had accompanied. Thompson to
his apartment with the simple intention of
chatting and having a few drinks. After
they had talked for an hour or so, he had
dozed off in,a chair. He awoke to find
Sandra naked on the bed, with Thompson
fondling and kissing her.
“T blew up, and before I knew what was
happening, it was all over. I threw the
knife into the Potomac River when I got
to Washington,” he declared. ;
With Carroll’s statement at hand,
Walter Crickman, whose bizarre, self-as-
signed task of watching for “burglars”
had plunged him into a raft of trouble,
- was released from custody ‘and declared .
innocent of any connection with the slay- -
ing.
Ke his trial, which began on the morn-
ing of September 13,-the accused killer
maintained his role of an indignant pro-
tector, but changed his story. To a capa-
city throng in Baltimore’s Crimitial Court,
Carroll, with many. elaborate gestures,
‘declared that he had fought for his life
against the engineer, that the latter had
become “crazy-mad” over Sandra,‘ and
they. had argued violently. He said
Thompson had attacked him, and he had
fought back wtih his razor-sharp knife,
finally bending him backward and
Abie tia! ‘thes ‘welpor! across his. thrdut!
Sandra, who had been absolved by the :
police of any .guilt in #the crime, was |
unable to weaken his story, since she
held to her story that she had been
asleep | until awakened. by a “térrible
groan,”: and then saw Thompson lying
on the floor in a welter of gore.
On ‘the ‘following day, Carroll’s de-
fense attorney won a victory by having
the jury instructed that they possessed a
legal right to assess the degree of guilt.
Even though Carroll had murdered and
then perpetrated a robbery; which’ under
the criminal code classified the slaying as
first degree murder, the presiding jurist
instructed the jury that their judgment
of the evidence ‘could call for one of four ~
verdicts—first degree, second degree,
manslaughter or acquittal. : $
After three hours’ deliberation, the jury,
‘apparently decided that the evidence was’.
not sufficient to unqualifiedly support the
state’s contention of a premeditated
crime: They therefore: returned a verdict
_of manslaughter. Carroll was also found
guilty of a charge of grand larceny, based
on police testimony that he had attempted
to pawn a watch in High Point, N, CG,
proven to have belonged to the victim, ,
and that a considerable amount of
Thompson’s pay, which he had drawn,
was missing from his effects after the.
slaying, The jury set his total prison term
at 15 years, the maximum permitted under
Maryland law.
Openly’ elated at’ the comparative
leniency of the verdict, Carroll demanded
he be personally permitted to poll the '}
jury: A puzzled court attendant asked.
why:
“T just want to make sure. I don’t trust
anyone but myself, and Thardly trust my-
self most of the time,” was his grinning
rejoinder.
“Don’t worry about it—you’ll soon be
in a place . where everybody's got that
feeling,” was the attendant’s cold retort.
The flippant, self-suspecting killer is
now serving his allotted term in the grim,
- smoke-blanketed fortress that is Mary-
land’s State Penitentiary.
(The names Walter Crickman and Sandra Jarvis
are fictitious to protect the identities of persons in-
nocently involved in the murder investigation,—- j
The Editors.)
.
Devil of St. Peter Street
_ [Continued from page 4]
had recently arrived. At first it was
thought that he was a visiting diplomat,
or perhaps a famous French lawyer or a
judge. .
He would sit quietly with his absinthe —
frappe as the guests, men and women of
fashion, entered the restaurant, Then
after a time, he would rise gravely and
pass among them. He would avoid parties
where men were present and go to the
‘tables where women, relaxing after a
shopping trip or an afternoon in the park, °
sat sipping tea or an aperitif. He would
hand: each a small, pie card, bow for-
mally and turn away. Then he would
_ settle his bill and leave the restaurant,
He would walk along Bourbon Street,
occasionally handing out other cards.
Then he would turn into narrow, dark
St. Peter Street, enter the doorway of an
iron-balconied house, and climb to the |
third floor. Taking out keys, he would
- enter a sky-lighted rear apartment. A
_ | pink card affixed to the door sborS the in-
it scription :
DR, ETIENNE DESCHAMPS
. ‘Professor of Magnetic
N Physiology
All Maladies Cured by!
Hypnotism
This was an era when spiritualism, |
mental telepathy, faith healing and similar
movements :with an occult tinge had a
wide vogue in the United States, and the
‘practitioners of such arts were often con-
sidered to be. distinguished and highly
respectable citizens. So when: Dr. Des-
champs had first presented himself at the
housé in answer to an advertisement of
vacant quarters, Mrs, Elizabeth Hilroy,
the landlady, had looked upon him with
immediate favor.
Mrs. Hilroy was worried that the neigh-
borhood was deteriorating and felt that
the ela of such an important man_
would lend quality to her éstablishment.
A native-born American, she understood
no French, But the diploma from the
Sorbonne in Paris and the other docu-
ments the doctor showed her looked most
‘impressive. She rented the doctor the
- rooms and agreed to his practicing his
profession there, He moved in the follow-
ing day, bringin
_library ‘of severa Hundred reached?
Mi} a
i
i
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DENNI3, black, hanged Jefferson Parish, LA, May 25, XBBK 1867
“AN EXECUTION FOR RAPE.
(From the New Orloans Picayune, May 22)”
Oh Baturdey morning next, between the hours of ten
anditwolve M., in the yard of the jail of the parish of
Jefferson, @ negro man named Dennis ia to auffer the
extreme penalty of the law by being hanged by the
unui dead for the critne of rape. The injured party
{na Lochbein, and the offence Was cotanitred on
th of last September, Denais waa tried twice for
thisjofence. The first trial took place’ November 19,
defended by Mosera Scott and McCaleb. The
returned a verdict of guilty and the prisoner was
sentenced, On the 10th of Janaary, 1667, & 6uspenaive
-was taken by his counsel, which resulted in the
3 ; of ths tower court being se¢ aside and the
ordering of @ new trial on account Of some Irrogularitios,,,
On the firet of this month (May) a new trial was had and
the Accused again found gui bythe jury, On tho ith
inst.|he was again sentenced {n accordance with the lw
of Loutsiana, which says thet “whoever shall commit
~rapeshall tpom conviction suffer death.’ Fue dude, to.
pase|ng sontence, rdded that it would he subject to the.
approval of the Cotmanding General of this Molton,
district, «
Goyernor Welle, upon the- recepuan ,of the papers in>
ile ¢ave, forwarded them to General @beridan, They
weréjreturned with the followin endorsemgni:->
I have carefully examined tho enclosed procecdinga
of thé court in the case of Dennis, and believe the son.
tence sliould be executed: but I don't mee Why the case
shoul! be submitted to me, or why the judge should aen-
tence|the Prisoner buljoot to my approval,
H 1 Ae | SHEKIDAN, Major General,
Governor Wells BeCor@ing!y hotbed. ape Sherif to
SITY IT LOR Ke Gre Gt Abe cedure ies ohove miata, .
NEW YORK HERALD, New York, NY
May 28, 1867 (3:4).
COTTON, George, black, 17, hanged LASP (Calcasieu) 11/6/191},,,
it ViNg MO kad
Santi aeanee reader
10, George Cotton, hanged 11/6/14, Convicted of felonious
assault upon Mrs. C. H. Blocker, wife of the sectican foreman at
Lucas, a little station «an the Eangas City Seuthern Railroad.
Mrs. Blocker was alone in the section house with her twa little
children, aged 2 and 6, when the i7-year-old negra tramp walked
Up on the gallery and demanded s0n@ old clethes and samething tea
eat. While she was complying with his request, the negra made an
attack upon Mrs. Blocker and threatened her with instant death.
The woman made him believe that she would not tell of his crime
and managed tm keep him about the place until she was able to
elude him and with the Children made her way to the nearest hame,
two miles away. The alarm was Ssaundecd, Cattan was apprehended
and taken ta DeRidder by the mounted Deputy Sheriff whe
apprehended him. Crawds of enraged men assembled at bath Starks
and DeQuincy and watched every avenue of approach to the towns,
haping toa intercept the officer having charge of Cotton. On July
12, 13914, Cotton was ledged in the parish jail after anxious mak s
had sought him for twe days, According ta a statement made tc
law enforcement officers, Cotton said he had recently came te
Calcasie@u from Porte Rice Csi) ds authorities claimed he had
confessed his guilt. Cotton was convicted Sept. 25, i914 of
felonious assault on Mrs. Blocker. It took the Jury three hours
to decide ta inflict the death Penalty; his extreme youth fulness
made some members af the Jury r@luctant te send him to the
gallows, In the epinion af the the reperter where cevered Cottaon’s
trial for the Lake Charles American ly ei I ee og speaks a
good de@al far the regard in which the law is held in Calcasieu
parish that Cotton ever got as far as the court. Only the
feeling that his case would be dealt with quickly and summarily,
coupled with the Proampt action on the part of the sheriff's
office, prevented a lynching bee at the time the crime was
committed..." Crime was Black~—on-white. (CLake Charles American
Press, 7442/14, 7/1L3B/ 14, 9/25/14),
NOTE: This researcher cannot find a NeWwSPaper account confirming
that Cotton was actually hanged. This Tase, after its initial
coverage of mob actin, gat scant attention in the Lake Charles
PYeESs, possibly because the crime Loncerned an outlying area of
the parish. However, there is ne Yecord of a cammutation fer
Catton, so it is assumed that either the Gxecution tack place as
demanded by the gevernar’s death warrant or Cotton was lynched
after conviction but before his execution, The death warrant
Says Cotton was sentenced for rape 9/26/14,
‘ 4 FIST
i” «hae all
COTTON, George, black, 17, hanged LASP (Calcasieu) 11/6/191h,,,
\ whe 9 lamned
eatteeahenemenatinnenn an eee ——
10. George Cotton, hanged 11/6/14. Ganvicted of felonious
assault upon Mrs. C. #H. Blocker, wife of the section foreman at
Lucas, a little station an the Kansas City Southern Failroad.
Mrs. Blecker was alone in the section house With her two little
children, aged 2 and 6, when the L7“year~old negra tramp walked
: Up on the gallery and demanded same mld clothes and samething tea
eat. While she was complying with his request, the negra made an
Weds attack upon Mrs. Blocker and threatened her with instant death.
The woman made him believe that she weuld not tell of his crime
and managed tea keep him about the Place until she was able to
elude him and with the Children made her way to the nearest home,
two miles away. The alarm ‘was sounded, Cotton was apprehended
and taken ta DePidder by the mounted Deputy Sheriff whe
apprehended him. Crowds of enraged men assembled at bath Starks
and DeQuincy and watched @very avenue mf approach ta the towns,
hoping to intercept the officer having charge of Cotten. On July
iz, 1514, Cotton was ledged in the Parish jail after ANKLOUS mabs
had sought him for two days, According ta a statement made ta
law enforcement officers, Cotton «aid he had recently came te
Calcasie@u from Porte Rico Csieds authorities claimed ha hac
confessed hit guilt. Cotton was convieted Sept. 25, 1914 of
felonious assault on Mrs. Blocker, It took the jury three hours
to decide to inflict the death Penalty; his extreme youth fulness
made some members af the jury reluctant te send him to the
gallows, In the epinioan mf the the reperter whe reavered Cotton's
trial for the Lake Charles American Pe eee. Ph. . , it speaks a
geod deal far the regard in which the law is held in Calcasieu
parish that Cotton ever get as far as the court. Only the
feeling that his CAS@ would be dealt with quickly and summarily,
coupled with the Prompt action on the part of the sheriff's
office, prevented a lynching bee at the time the crime was
committed..." Crime Was black-on-white, (Lake Charles American
Fy a5 55, 7/11/14, 7/13/14, S/B5/ 14),
NOTE: This researcher cannot find a Newspaper account confirming
that Cotton was actually hanged. This FAS@, after its initial
coverage of mob action, got ‘scant attention in the Lake Charles
PY@SS, possibly because the crime concerned an outlying area of
the parish: However, there is no recerd of a commutation for
Catton, sa itois assumed that either the execution tock place as
demanded by the gdevernar’s death warrant or Catton was lynched
after conviction but before his Gxecutiony The death warrant
says Cotton was sentenced far rape 9/26/14,
COTTON, G sctigs oe | [bo ie SLUMS
Black, hanged Calcasieu Parish, La,, for rape on Nov, 6,
LL. |
17-years-old, retarded, convicted of raping a
white housewife, Ltrs dtd. 1=-l:-1989 from
from Linda L aBranche, faculty at Loyola Univ.
quoting draft of chapter from a book she is
writing entitled "Southern Justice.
Worksheet LA NWU
COTTON, George, black, 17, hanged LA SP (Calcasieu) 11-6-191).
Apt. 48
4555 Geovernment St.
Baton Rouge, LA 7OROE
4+ Jan 1989
Mr. Watt Espy
Capital Punishment Fesearch Project
P.O. Drawer 277 ~ 100 East Main St.
Headland, AL 36345
Dear Mr. Espy:
I would like your permission to use statistical informatian
you have campiled an executions in Louisiana. I am writing a
book aon Wilbert Rideau, editer of THE ANGOLITE, and part «ef the
cantext T am using ta define his case is an historical overview
of Louigsiana’s criminal justice practices, including lynchings
and capital punishment.
Mrs. Harriet Callahan at the State Library in Baton Rouge
referred me to a folder containing your latest research oan
Lowigiana @xecutions as af March 1986. In a March 18, 15986
letter to Sr. Helen Fre jean, you said you had ceanfimed 858
executions since 1722 and that the racial breakdown was Blacks,
73%; Whites, 15%; and Unknowns, 7%. You cancluded that "the
death penalty in Louisiana, as in other southern states, has been
used ino an almest genocidal manner." You aleo stated that
records for campensations for slaves executed prior to 1847 were
missing C125 years worth, since 17227), and that if these numbers
could be receavered, you suspected that the final tally would shaw
that 3O% or more of those executed in Louisiana have been black.
I’m certain the total number of Louisiana executions has
changed since 1986 as a dezen or more men have gone toa the
electric chair since then. Could you provide me with your
statistics through the end of 1989 Choth on the total number
executed and the revised racial breakdown)? Alse, I would like
permission toe use your comments, as stated above, aon the
sSiqnificance af the racial breakdewn.
I?m eniy at the draft-writing stage of the beak aon Rideau
(to which I’ve given the tentative title Southern Justice), but Tf
am enclosing the pages pertinent to your study soa you can see
exactly hew I intend te use your information, with your
permission. ¢Yoaou will nete that on the draft, I have guessed at
what your revised numbers might be: please cearrect them.) If you
wollld like ta offer any ether comments on Louisiana’s death
penalty--or on the use af it generally in the South~-~-please feel
free to do sa by return mail.
In case you're wondering who I am--I am a faculty member at
Loyola University in New Orleans Can — this year tea write
this book). Together with Ted Quant, started the ant to
free Fideau at Loyola’s Institute of Sovak Relations, and I serve
(Se p)- G24 “es 174
Justice In 1766
“We must go early if we are to get good places near the scaffold in the public square.
We must go early for there may not be another execution like this for many months,”
your friends tell you. .
Michel Degout, 47, master sculptor from Natchitoches, La., has been convicted by the
colony’s Superior Council ‘‘of premeditated murder, committed with a sculptor’s chisel,
on the person of one Cratte...’’ And the execution has been set for today, Feb. 1, 1766, at
3 p.m. in New Orleans’ Place d’Armes.
Already there is a crowd as you and your friends turn into the square, well before 3
o'clock. But you are able to work yourselves into a good position, where you can get a full
view of the scaffold.
104
“Do you think this Degout is guilty?” a friend asks.
“Oh, he killed Cratte, all right,” you answer. “Degout claims it was self-defense. - It
well may have been. I hear the woman witness who was brought down here from Nat-
chitoches—the one whose deposition is believed to have done more than any of the five
other to condemn the man—later said she lost consciousness and was ill at the moment
Degout is supposed to have plunged his chisel into Cratte.”
“And Degout said she was lying in her testimony, did he not?”
“That is what Ihear,” you answer. “She may well have been...
“Are you saying that Degout did not have a fair trial?” another friend asks. “It was all
legal according to the ordinance of October, 1670, which governs all France. Degout was
held in jail here in New Orleans while the Natchitoches judge interrogated witnesses and
investigated the facts.
“Degout was confronted by the written report of the testimony. He got his op-
portunity to see the wom an witness—on Jan. 29—and refute her statements. He was put
in irons and sent back to the jail to await the Superior Council’s decision. They met this
morning and found him guilty. What more of a trial could you ask?”
“But perhaps if the poor sculptor had been given benefit of a counsel learned in legal
matters... .”
‘“Humphi” your friend retorts. “You know full well that a defendant is allowed counsel
only in matters such as embezzlement, fraudulent bankruptcy, forgery and such. And,
what’s more, the decision of the council is final—there is no appeal. Would you have them
turn murderers loose on us?”
Before you can decide how to answer, if at all, you hear a commotion. Looking over the
crowd, you see Degout standing in a cart which is being drawn toward the scaffold. He
has a rough gown draped over his body. A rope is around his neck. In his hands he holds
what’s left of a flaming wax torch which originally weighed two pounds.
As the cart stops at the place of execution, you see the placard which says "Murderer
and Assassin” hanging on the side. Degout, you see as he steps from the cart,
barefooted and bareheaded. He already has been to the church where he knelt to “beg
forgiveness” for his crime, according to the sentence.
The public executioner moves behind Degout. He takes the rope in his hand and pulls
it tight around the prisoner’s neck. The council, you hear, had been merciful. At the last
moment it ordered Degout be strangled to death before the rest of the sentence was
carried out.
Then you watch, grow ing sicker, as the dead man’s arms, legs, thighs and back are
broken and the body finally is stretched on the wheel.
You leave before his body is taken up by the executioner. For several days you avoid
the thoroughfare where Degout’s broken body is displayed to satisfy the last
requirement of the sentence.
You can’t help reflecting on the shortness of Degout’s trial, on French justice and on
the fact that you, too, could some day be accused of killing a man. But it’s wiser not to let
anyone hear you thinking thus.
105
of the executions, and thus think twice before butchering their neighbors.
Accordingly, hangings were always in public, to be witnessed by the crowd. Always, it
would appear, they were witnessed by the same people for, even at that time, saner
elements in Louisiana society were trying to convince law enforcement officials that
public hangings really did nothing more than satisfy the perverse pleasures of men out to
see some unfortunate done in.
An interesting superstition grew out of the public executions, according to John Smith
Kendall in an issue of the Louisiana Historical Quarterly. After the swinging
bodies were cut down from the gallows, there always was a mad scramble for pieces of
the hanging rope.
It was thought that a piece of the rope would bring good luck to the man fortunate
enough to get one.
There was a particularly strong feeling surrounding the double hanging of two con-
victed murderers on July 25, 1883. One had stabbed his wife to death on Magazine St.;
the other had shot his sweetheart in a Franklin St. joint.
As was his custom, “Red Pat” Egan made his way to the front of the crowd, most
members of which had stopped off at the nearest saloon on the way to the. hanging.
Coarse jokes were thrown in the direction of the two doomed men. There seemed to be
the usual complete disregard for the solemn aspects of the occasion.
The judgment of the courts was carried out, and Egan promptly claimed his ‘ ‘good
luck” piece of bloodstained rope. Since the ropes used for these two hangings were
particularly valuable to those who thought pieces of them were good omens, all who
fought for souvenirs and won were noticed.
That same night, “Red Pat” Egan got in a fracas with a man on Royal St. and killed him.
In his pocket, when he was searched at the police station, was the piece of rope.
Newspapers of the day dwelled on the fact that what was supposed to be a good luck
charm had turned out to be just the opposite for this hack driver named “Red Pat.”
It was pointed out further that the public hangings, instead of proving to be lessons
against ill deeds, tended more to encourage them.
It was not long before strictly private executions became the vogue—largely as a result
of “Red Pat” Egan’s bad luck. The practice of private executions has continued since
then.
And “Red Pat,” if he served no other purpose in life, was indirectly responsible for this
cultural reform—by getting just enough of the hanging rope to hang himself.
127
Hangman’'s Rope
A hack driver named “Red Pat” Egan may have served society greatly, in 1883, by
being hanged by the neck until dead.
Until the execution of “Red Pat,” many people in New Orleans seemed to take a
grisly pleasure in witnessing hangings. And the bloodier the hanging, the lustier the
shouts of “Hang him! Hang him!”
Other impassioned voices would cry, “Give me a piece of the rope.”
Until Egan’s ghastly demise, it was thought public hangings were a means of
discouraging wrongdoing. The theory was that citizens would be frightened by the sight
126
~~
ne mes a am gee
——
A ay Sipe Na Ti, =
310 The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
be then borne to and exposed on the public road. Have declared
and do declare moreover that all his goods and property be confis-
cated to His Majesty, or to those to whom they belong. Have or:
dered and do order that the present shall be read, published and post-
ed in the customary places of this city, and collated copies sent to
each post of the colony, there, to be likewise read and posted; the
Attorney General of the King or his substitute is enjoined to enforce
this execution and to notify the Court of it within a month.
Given in the Criminal Chamber of the Council, February first,
one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six.
Signed: ‘‘Delalande,”’ “Foucault,” ‘“Delachaise,” ‘‘Aubry,”.
99> 66
‘“‘Huchet de Kernion,”’ ‘‘Lasassier,” ‘“de Launay.”’
RETENTUM
The Court has decided that the said Degout will be strangled
under the scaffold before receiving a blow. Decided the said day, ©
month and year in the said Chamber.
Signed: ‘Foucault,’ ‘“Delalande,”’ ‘“Delachaise,”’ ‘‘Aubry,”
‘‘Huchet de Kernion,”’ ‘‘Delaunay,”’ ‘‘Lesassier.”’
On this dav, February first, one thousand seven hundred and
3ixty-six, at three o’clock of the afternoon, I, chief clerk of the Su-
derior Council, do certify that the decree rendered on this day by
the Council against one Degout was executed in its entirety, by the
public executioner, and that the said Degout suffered it, as stated,
at New Orleans on the above mentioned day and year. (Unsigned.)
Translator’s Note.—The above lines appear on the margin of the
foregoing sentence and were evidently written by another hand.
-
ORIGINAL TEXT.
FIRST HEARING
Pain. Information faite par Nous daniel Pain sub
2 Janvier 1766. délégue de Mr. l’ordonnateur faisant fonction
Information contre de Juge au poste de Nachitoches en vertu de
Degout. L’arrest du Conseil Supérieur de la province
de la Louisianne En datte du Neuf Novembre
dernier a la Requeste de Mr. le procveur Général du Roy, du conseil
Supérieur contre le Nommé Michel Degout interne en prison Royalle
a la Nouvelle Orléans. .
ainsy quil Suit:
. cela quelle Information aurions procédé 4
Du 2
age d
Dedir
Repre
Sur |
du Ri
comn
arrivé
trois «
verol!
faire
envo}
il sen
donn
Retor
deux
chez (
pierre
vit L
upren:
voulu
qual
voulu
ens!
luy d
avoit
resta «
suru:
Ensui
Dit a
nay p
sil p:
Cratt
moni
a Cov
Bless:
degou
luy fe
voulu
desie
p
]
»
ly
@ianc by me,
cting as First Judge
| the said province,
sculptor, accused,
jailer of the prisons,
‘, who after being
follows:
dence, he answered
a native of Paris,
master sculptor.
said that he came
bad blow to a man
been told.
ised to kill Cratte,
shown him, said
‘now if it was with
i he received the
e had pushed him
truck him several
ch he struck him,
egress and that he
ie Mad been appre-
‘hat he had never ee
_been arrested at
ith another man,
e town and brand-
illed Cratte at the
id that testimony
iothing else. His
him, he said that
Cabildo Archives UY
CRIMINAL SESSION
Were present Mr. Aubry, Commandant of
this colony, Knight of the Royal and Military
Order of St. Louis; M. Foucault, acting as
Ordonnateur and First Judge; de Lalande
d'Appremont, Huchet de Kernion, de Launay, Councillors, and
Messrs. Le Sassier, de la Chaise, de la Place, Councillors assessors.
February Ist, 1766.
Condemnation of
Michel Degout.
The Attorney General of the King, plaintiff and accuser, against
Michel Degout, sculptor, defendant and accused before the
Superior Council, the investigation made at Natchitoches
containing the testimony of four witnesses, the proces verbal
of the visit made to the room of one Cratte, the transfer of procedure
to the Superior Council, the interrogatory of said Degout, the im-
prisonment on the registers of the jail, the decree of the Council
annulling the procedure at Natchitoches, and ordering that the inves-
tigation be recommenced testimony of the six witnesses, the certifi-
cate given to Madam Darbanne as having testified and been con-
fronted with the accused; the re-examination, the confrontation of the
twenty-ninth of last month, the interrogatory on the witness stand,
the final conclusions of the Attorney General of the King, the report
of M. de la Lande, Councillor and Criminal Judge in this case, the
whole being seriously examined, the Council has declared and declares
the said Michel Degout duly apprehended and convicted of several
crimes, in reparation of which he has heretofore been flogged, branded
with a fleur de lys, and banished from Leogane, has declared and
declares him duly convicted of the premeditated murder, committed
with a sculptor’s chisel on the person of one Cratte, in reparation
of which has condemned and condemns him to make honorable
amends, barefooted, and gowned, a rope around his neck, holding in
his hands a flaming wax torch weighing two pounds, to be led to the
main entrance of the parochial church of this city, where he will be
brought by the public executioner in a tumbril, with a poster
bearing on it: ‘Murderer and assassin,” front and back, and there,
bareheaded and on his knees to declare that he wickedly, with pre-
meditation, murdered the said Cratte, for which crime he is repentant
and begs forgiveness of God, of the King and of justice; after which,
in the same cart he is to be led by the same public executioner to the
public square of this city, to have his arms, legs, thighs and back
broken on a scaffold which, for this purpose, shall be erected on the
said square, and he shall afterwards be placed on a wheel, to expire
there with his face turned to Heaven until death ensues, his body to
ee ee A
F oe ye * %
Seay = Ss
a?
¥ ot #434
ALSUSAINA
ect ey
=
said negress and
ly; that her testi.
creant; he insisted
ight in my house,”
chest the negress
he blow, answered
that all this was
‘'t she had not seen
' strike one single
il tool, which she
1 tool was on the
a sculptor’s chisel
it that he did not
ool that he struck
| thereby ignorant
smaller chisel was
-d from him at the
it was not taken
that he had not
giving him blows
all from his hand,
nich was open, he
vhilst the witness
ouse, that he had
A e blow was
> window, against
itness’ testimony
hen he saw him,
e? Why did you
The witness said
ut did not lodge
ilege of placing a
which he was to
ling the present
-estimony was the
it signed, Marie
ordance with the
of the Council.”
Cabildo Archives 307
This done, we had the jailer bring the said Degout back to
pason and caused to be replaced the irons on his feet and hands,
and have ordered and do order that the present confrontation be
@mmunicated to the Attorney General of the King, for his informa-
tion and for such action as may be necessary.
Signed: ‘‘Delalande.’”
Signed: ‘“‘Garic, Clerk of the Council.”
First of In the year one thousand seven hundred and
sixty-six, on the twenty-ninth of January,
January 29, 1766. before me, Charles Marin de Lalande d’Ap-
Re-examination of _premont, Councillor commissary in this case,
Marie Leclerc, appeared the Attorney General of the King,
Wife of Darbanne. plaintiff and accuser, who informed us that in
execution of the order issued by Sieur Pain,
gub-delegate and acting judge at Natchitoches, in virtue of the order
of the Council of the ninth of last November, against one Jean
Degout, accused, detained in the prisons of this city, to be-re-ex-
amined in his deposition by summons of Langlois, sheriff of the said
place the Attorney General represented to us having prosecuted in the
gud Superior Council to the said end, and who has requested us to
proceed in the said re-examination
Whereupon we have acted in the name of the said Sieur, the
Attorney General of the King, on this testimony and commanded
and ordered that we proceed forthwith to the re-examination of the
gid Marie Darbanne, sixth witness heard in the investigation made
before Sieur Pain at the said place of Natchitoches, in virtue of the
said order after having sworn Marie Darbanne to-tell the truth, we
have caused to be read to her the testimony given by her in the said
investigation, and after having heard it she declared it to be the
truth without anything to add to it nor to omit and persisted therein.
The present re-examination being read to her she also persisted in it
and declared not to know how to sign, whereof inquiry and challenge
was made in accordance with the ordinance. Done in the said
criminal chamber, at New Orleans the above mentioned day, month
and year, and before signing—
Add that she remembered that at the moment Degout committed
the deed she lost consciousness and was ill.
Signed: ‘Delalande.”’
Signed: ‘‘Garic, Clerk of the Council.”
OR a a
x ?
308 The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
February Ist. Interrogation on the witness stand by me #
Interrogation of Denis Nicolas Foucault, acting as First Judge ©
one Degout. in the Superior Council in the said province, §
of one Michel Degout, sculptor, accused, %
ot held in the prisons of this city: :
February Ist, 1766. There was brought by the jailer of the prisons, :
the said Degout, accused, who after being #
sworn to tell the truth, was interrogated by us as follows: .
Interrogated as to his age, profession and residence, he answered #
that his name Michel Degout, aged forty-seven, a native of Paris, 3
parish of Our Lady of the King, his trade that of master sculptor.
Interrogated as to why he had come here, said that he came &
from the post of Natchitoches for having given a bad blow toa man &
named Cratte, of which he has since died, he had been told. ;
Interrogated as to what instrument he had-jused to kill Cratte, ¥
said that he had used one of his tools. yet --
7 . Interrogated if he recognized the two tools shown him, said %
~s a that he recognized one of them; that he does not know if it was with ®
ao a gouge or another tool that he dealt the blow. oy
= Interrogated as to where Cratte was when he received the #
Dro wound, said that it was in the house, that Cratte had pushed him ¥
a away, and having wrested the tool from him, struck him several ©
times with it until he took another one with which he struck him, ¥
that the women told them to stop, and then the negress and that he #
had answered the negiess: ‘That is ended.” ad
Interrogated if he had killed any others or if he had been appre
hended by justice,-said that he was the first and that he had never #
killed anyone, that twenty-two years ago he had been arrested at #
Leogane for having stolen three silver pieces, with another man, | ;
whilst drunk, for which he was whipped through the town and brand: #
ed with a fleur de lys and banished. a
Interrogated to tell the truth as to his having killed Cratte at the }
window, said that he had killed him in the house and that testimony ¥
to the contrary is false. And said that he knew nothing else. His #.
jnterrogatory and his answers having been read to him, he said that. e
they contained the truth, persisted therein and
Signed: ‘“Degout.”’
Signed: ‘Foucault.’
DAILY AMERICAN, Lake Charles,
October 28, 1906,
Las, IHXRRXXMH
Charles, La.,} 2-26-1907, ©
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continued, as in saetttens
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tionable from ite tendenc ty eau x
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tifermen
enhances the curative action of the
> Bea! spt, Stone root, Black
bark and Bloodroot, eontained ip
Medical Discovery,” in all bron-
ana ti ; : H
of Chicago, and oth who stand
in their covers!’ schools of
ins the forego! ents are the
a } fonts” thet Dr. Pterce
vec to make up his {a-
~jaisters were also present and sat
Anether Job for Lesie.
By Apeociated Press. :
: New York, Feb. 95. — According
to the Herald, Leslie M. Shaw who
retites from the cabinet March 4,
to Beoome president of the newly
Organized Circegie Trust Co. of
thus oity.
PSSSSSSSSS TS |
Pebeary 26 | #
The man who has a walk-
N ing accusintauce with the
\ Varsity $4 Shoe
je a man of foot comfort.
é
6
A
6
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6
6
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(4
6
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UY
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46
N ’Tie an eesy matter (o take y
nm with geh eof
pearance, but the Varsity
‘ combination, that of
N Style, Quality ang Fit 4
ou doen't very often And.
‘ ’arsi y Shots are bere io
‘ all grades of leather at the
P| Sompayrac, The jury retired to
|
| 3
Distilct Coot How Wectleg Evidence
ln Coleman Case
Many Witnesses Are m Attendance and
the Trial May Consume Seve:-
al Days.
The case of the State vs. Lee H.
Coleman, ebarged with the murder
of William Sbhoemake at Di Quin-
oey last fall, was taken up early th
morning in diwirict court, the jary
neving been completed betore the
adjourament of contt last nignt, as
foltows: J. H. Pittman, Overton
Gaatbier, Ivan H. Sebwing, J. R.
Tabor, B. H. Prater, Joe Jacobs,
{. W. Vanscoy, J. E, Terrell,
Charles J. Bullock, Wilhe Gorham,
W. P. Trotterand U. B. - Richard.
The coart room was sbout two
thirds filied with spectators, and
the trisl. Several ladies were pres-
ent, Mrs. Ferguson, Colemap’s
niece, was present and eat at his
side.
Shoemake’s fatner, mother and
inside the raii,
About thirty or more witnesses
wefe present snd answered their
names. “They were then instracted
by Jodge Miller to not ditcuse the
case With aryone except the artor-
peys until alter the tris! aud were
retired to the grand jury room to
await being oalied.
Coleman's attorneys, Mesars,
Sompayrac & Poomer, E. F, Gayle
and Winston Overton, were all in
attendance at the opening of the
trial. The state was represented by
Dirtriot - Attorney L. H. Moss and
James A. Williame.
The first witness valied was Coro-
wer Fisher, who testified with re
gard to the inquest and the natare
of the wounde on Shoemake's
body .
Jobn Sallivag, who gave bu
cooupation se a trackmay, aad who
wae present in Hollander’s esalvon
at the time of the ehooting was the
bext witness.
He was iollowed on the witness
stand by Chariee Hollander, who
tended bar in the saloon of bis
brother, John Hollander, where the
killing oocarred.
Baroey Perkins, who wae in the
place at the time of the tragedy, was
the next witness. Before he took
the sand, however, the oourt took
Me
their room daring thie recess. At
the expiration of (hie recese Mr,
| Perkins give hie leetimony,
The jast witness before the noon
Adjourmment wae Jobn Nyland.
‘| American priests, Father Kress of
they evinced considerable interest in‘
feo. 89 —— 3 WO
——ee ae
ve 6! ISees,
Cleveland, O. and Father Leiin.
grol Zaneeville, O, were arredted
on the sireete of Paerto Cortes, i inal
tloodurss, ove night the first of jas: His Chat Eramination
week, chargea with defying Hop- f —
duras martisi law, that prevented
anyone from walking the etreets
after 9 p. m. ty
They were taken before a magis
trate and aftee a time were releseed
pending farther besrings.
American toaisis are fleeing from
the'war stricken republics of Cen.
aral America,
Hammel wae asked regarding
BIDS ON PANAMA Mrs, Thaw’s visit to bis office and
: | Sbout &® conversation with her there
CANAL RE JEI FT) He could not remember dates and a
|pbotograpnic copy of the famous
| Sfidevit was shown him to refresh
bis memory. Mr. Delmas objected
'to the use of-the photograph and
also objected to several questions
Jerome asked but the court ruled
the witness mighi answer.
Hammel was temperorarily ex.
cused and Abraham Snyecker was
called. Snyecker wae asked only
one question which wae not allowed.
'He was then excused.
After Hammel’s tertimony was
completed Mr. Delmas read from
Evelyn Nesdit’s 1903 diary for nearly
forty miouke. Mr. Jerome then
took up the reading of extracts from
the boo bimeelf, Delmas having no
objections.
Mra. Thaw wae recalled to the
stand, and at 12:40 Mr. Jerome an.
nounced that be bad oe mpleted her
Croes examiDaticn. A recees was
thén ordered until 3 p. m.
BLOODINE LIVER PILLS
Care Chronic Vonetspation and
Sik Head-stes. Y5ea box, 5 bores
$1.00 maiied.
BLOODINE OINTMENT
Cures eczema, salt theam, tetter,
Several Other Witr-esses Were Placed
or the Stand, but Nothing of
Impertance Elcited.
By Associated Press.
New York, Feb. 96.--When the
Thaw case was resumed this morn-
ing Abratam Hummel was called
to the stand as the firet witness.
Announced Today That ap Bids Will
Be Accepted for the Work
Statement ef tne Reasons ter Mages
Decision Expected from White
House Later,
By Associated Press. :
Washington, Feb. 96.—It was
anoounced this afternoon that it bas
been decided pot to accept bids for
the building of the Panama canal.
An explanation df the reasons for
thie decision 18 expected to be issued
trom the white house later,
Chief Kogineer Stevens of the
Panama cana! bas resigned.
Ask your neighbors if
they are satisfed with
the service and values
we givethem, We gre
willing to abide by their
verdict. -H. W. Miller old sores, eruptions, bleeding and
Grocery Co. Phones) ttching piles, sod al] skin diseases.
SBS-agd' 703. . 20g [0 8 dow: mailed.
Vanishing Millions.
By Associated Press.
Washington, Fob. 26.—.The een-
ate yesterday passed the agrioul-
tural appropriation bit! carrying
pearly $10,00u,000; the postoffice
appropriation bill carrying $910,-
000,000; the pension appropriation
bill carrying $145,000,000, and the
bull authorizing tbe eetablishmen: ot
ap agricaitaral bank 10 the Philip-
prises, The principal fight was over
the agricultural bill, which took
piace on the Beveridge amendment
Mise Zola Gentry, representing.8.
T. Owens, modiste, of Loepeville,
Ky., hae received @ line of new
epring samples, Phone 211. 095.
K ting at Villa Piatte.
Opeluusas, La, February 26 —
Henry LaFleur, a well known
young man of Ville Platte, in this
parish, wae srrested and brought
here to jail yeeterday, charged with
the marder of Conetablé LaFicur of
that town op the night . previous.
Detaile are meager, but it 18 learned
AMercation on Satarday afternoon
Fequiring the packers to pay the
coet of administering tne meat in-
6pection law. This amendment
defeate1 on a point of order
/ Pleasent Surprise Party.
Last evening Mr. and Mrs. G.
Woolmsn were given a most de
om, apparently reliable sonrces
that the parties bad engaged in an
nd exchanged pistol ehote without
injury, Later they met again and
vquewed the quarrel, both using
(heir pistols, with the reea(t toa oy
constable waa ks lied,
Distilct bttorney Jerome Concludes:
mY
pt
A larg:
were pr:
pleasan:
sation,
The ¢
draw ca
the ladi
ner tor
were de
served.
late hov
Woolm
the da:
Meaers.
H. EK. B
Carrier,
Connoll
B. Hine
field, E,
dredge,
Mesdam
Peyton,
Weeks 6
say th
Tea is tt
on earth
® one price—four dollars. 4 After tis twotimony the gourt took a Gust B0D ten freak hhgbtfal surprise party at their onc oom
‘ : ii 4 recess, rétonvenoing wt 1:30, when h for cath. We also carry @ handsome new residence on Pujo lew, V
Ali Sizes = — 5 to é U tia : asd Louisisna svenee. The party 7
N John Urawford was the fret wit| ise stock of feed of all kinds.
All Widths — Btok ‘ y wee planned, by Mrs. Woolman’s Vou
I pets. Wesley Frenkiin, J. A. JOB SEMO GROCERY CO, P
| And Combination Lasts. #\ Rainwater, Gilbert Hennigan and grantee Soeiemn-oemte austere, Mrs. t. R. Plummer and order
@ | Jobn Shoewake father of the man Shell Oysters. These Mrs. K. R. Weeks, who are visiting '
& ¢\ who was killed were aiso pat on the |Gr@ Pass oysters, which/|her this winter. es ye #0 ae or
N % jetand. Depaty Sheriff H. A. Reid| penn the best. 5Oc per Walvepeihc obiapians poodle se be itis s
ae
‘ aise yc ee oe hundred, Call at ferry both Mr. and Mrs, Woolman and aot
y he con Tle enviinend that landing. wee a oelebration of the (wenty. rie t
Se ae : ° third ry of their marriage. ‘
» ee SOL LEZLa they would rest their case at 8:15, 9 St Jos. Rossotto i anniversary eB
aso . ' — == — prey |
ee aes eee iy a
Pap ww pol epee 3: es ee
oY
atner yof His Victim.
* ‘
3 BROKEN AND DEATH PAINLESS.
Man ,Was Composed to the Last. and Gave the
the Fatal Drop—Sketch of a Noted Crime
and Its Punishment. ;
fto beat.
‘taken down and removed to Swift-
e Good-By, Including the ‘wedi peuatcer tne nw tor the mer
der of Wm. Shoemake shortly after
moon today. The drop fell at 12:39,
and 10 minutes later his heart ceased
At 1:10 the remains were
Kirkwood's undertaking establish-
ment, whére they were prepared for
shipment to his former home at Tex-
arkana for interment.
The physicians present statcu that
Coleman's neck was broken by the
drop, and he died instantly.
Coleman spent his last morning on
earth in a calm, even cheerful mood
und attired himself early in a new
black suit. During the morning a
few \isitcrs were admitted to say
good-by to hin: and they all stated
thet-be_sas—+ot—in—th—etient ent he
LEE H. COLEMAN.
4 Letter of Thanks.
ee
Yirens and Friends in Lake Charles, Westlake, De
od Mosepine: Through the columns of your paper, I
wees my beartfelt thaaks for the favors arual courte~
me while atone, a aman in a strange city
amt (o etplain why | have taken such interest in Mr.
nan, my brother in-law, We were three sisters left
young to shift for ourecives, and it was a bard bat-
After dear mother's death we worked every way we
sake meet living and live a Christian Mfe.
oar of 1896 my two sisters were taken Ui, and were
- while and I could not leave them to go to work and
almost helpless and without money. Mr. Coleman
3 almost from my birth, came to my ald and
wst dollar and gave it to me to buy my sick sisters
they could eat and sent them @ doctor to nurse them
gree agitated by the shadow hang-
ing over him. He had heard of the
unsuccessful appeal made to the gov-
ernor on his behalf but seemed to be
resigned to his fate. °
4 short time before noon, Mrs.
Minnie Faulkerson, his sister-in-law
was admitted to the jail and bade
bim good-by. His manner was just
as nutural as ever, she says, and he
was cheerful and self-possessed.
Shortly afterward, Rev. Father
Cramers, rector of the church of the
Immaculate Conception, was admit-
tef to the cell and prepared Cole-
man for death, Coleman having em-
braced the Catholic faith during his
incarceration.
Meanwhile the preparations for his
execution went on, and everything
was in readiness by noon. The wit-
nesses and the sheriff and his dep-
utiles, and Coroner W. L. Fisher as-
AMERICAN, 1-3-1908,
FOR WM. SHOEMAKE’S MURDE: *
remains were cut down and turned
over to the undertaker.
A number of people ass-mbidil
about the jail enclosure as the hour
drew near, and Bouth Coury-ttreet
was crowded for a time on account
of a rumor that Coleman would
speak from one of the windows, but
the story was without foundation.
Nobody could see or hear anything
from the outside, however, and all
the salistgetion the spectators got
for their morbid curiosity was to see
the dead man’s remains bronght out.
Lee Coleman, who suffered the ex-
treme penalty of the law this after-
noon, was born in Union county,
Miss., March 25, 1861. His parents
died during his infancy and he was
+broveht-ip by tris wncie, a MetnoaiEt |
minister, who resided at Holly
Springs, Miss. While he was still an
infant he was accidentally let fall
down.a flight of steps, his hip joint
was thrown out of place by the acci-
dent, but owing to his tender years
the fracture was not discovered un-
til it was too late to set it, conse-
quently he was a cripple practically
all of his fe. He was also a suf-
ferer from rheumatism al] his life.
Coleman was a carpenter by trade
and worked at it for several years,
but was handicapped by his crippled
condition. He went to Arkansas and
went into the liquor business at Lit-
tle Rock, Ark. Afterwards he moved
to Texarkana where he Iived until
1901, part of the time .being par-
tender for Dag Gallagher, a well
known liguor man, and part of the
time being in business for himself.He
never was in any kind of trouble in
sembled at the jail a few minutes
after twelve and gathered at Cole-
man's cel] where the death warrant
was read to* him.
Coleman heard it with composure,
aod when questioned by the sheriff,
replied in a firm tone, “IT am ready.”’
When the witnesses had assem-
bled at the gallows, Coleman was the
coolest apd most self-possessed man
in the room. He made a brief state-
ment through Father Cramers that
he was reconciled to his fate, and
wanted to die with no one harbor-
img ill-feeling against him, as he had
none toward anybody. He then
shook hands with everybody present,
his only show of emotion being when
he bade farewell to Shoemake’s aged
father and when he stooped to kigs
the crucifix in Father Cramer's
hands.
When the deputy sheriff began to
fate for®killing James Chaney was
brought out and shook hands good-
by with him.
It took but a few minutes for the
preliminaries. Then the black cap
was adjusted and the officer asked,
$ | heart ceased to bent, and at 1:10 the
—
“Are you ready ,Coleman’?’ “Ready.
was the muffled response, and the
drop fell, at 12:38 At 12:49 the
Texarkana, never was arrested or
accused of violating the laws and was
looked upon as & qalet peaceable
man. .
Mr. Coleman was married August
16, 1899 at Little Rock, Ark. His
wife died February 22, 1901, leavi
no child--p. ‘rs. Minnie Pauiker
son, her sister who has stood so no-
bly by the anfortunate man states
that he was a kind and loving hus-
band and provided everything for
the comfort of his wife. After her
death he went to Shreveport, then
worked awhile for J. M. Howell at
Rosepine and finally came to De-
Quincey about four years ago.
Mrs. Faulkerson will take his re-
mains tonight {o Texarkana where
they will be met by relatives and
friends and laid rest beside those
of his wife in Rose Hill cemetery.
The only near relative Mr. Coleman
ls
Se ee
Cherles- DAILY
On all
Overcoats
boys’ knee Si
einaluler $
The killing of Wililam Shoemake, ~~
marshal of DéeQuincey and depaty — :
sheriff, which caused the death pene. 4
alty to be inflicted on Lee Coleman, 4,
occurred the night of October 24, |
1906. Some weeks before, at ;
who was a saloon keeper, was aS:
ed by Shoemake for carrying com-_ .
cealed weapons and hocdlumism, and .. 7
was heavily fined the day of the ~
killing in the district court here. ~
Before leaving Lake Charles, he °°:
purchased the weapon with whith <;
Shoemake was killed and returned to'#
DeQuincey. That night, whe Shoe-
make was seated at a@ table in re oe
loon, watching a‘card game, Odle-
man entered the room and. ed
several bystanders oyt of the way ~
walked up*near where Shoemake -.:
was sitting, and opened fire on him,
killing bim instantly. ~
Officers from Lake Chartes were
dispatched next morning to arrest
him, but he fied. Six weeks later he
was captured by a posse in eben 8”
along the Babine river, having been |
concealed there during all the inter-
vening time. A half dozen persens -
were afterward indicted ag accessor...
ies after the fact, charged with aide 2
ing him to elude the officers:
Lee. Coleman was indicted on tne ©
7th of February, 1907, for the mur ©
der of William Shumake, charged wis
have been eommitted in the pariah
of Calcasieu and in the town ef Be-,;
Quincey. The court appomted mr eg
Edwin F. Gayle and Mr. Wt Ff
Overton to defend the accused. a iy
The case was fixed for trial far.
February -25, 1907, and on the
place th udeuffs on his wrists,/leaves fs his brother Tom of Etta,
Coleman said: “Please don't put|Miss., from whom Mrs. Faulkerson
them on: I don't want to dle hand-|received the following letter a few
cuffed. Tle my hands with rope In-|days ago:
jriead ' This was done. When the “Dear Friend. | expected to come
tdepaty adjusted the mepe, he said tofto Lake Charies but can not get the!
Cnteman: ts Thar rey wre NT TVISTMODY to a so. 7] tried to sell my
pretts tight.” replied Coleman, “bat /bome but the trac ie fell through and
it doesn't make any difference. It 'have irleg to burrow the money from
will soon be over” the banks but they wil! not let any
then he bade farewell to the little} out before spring be do the best
assemblage, Coleman recognized sev-}]you-can and J will help you later on.
eral present By his request, the/If you cant get the geoney to carr,
hegro who is soon to suffer the same| Lee's remain> bach to Tetatnana
now. bury him In some cemetery at
Lake Charles and we will find the
money to move bim a8 Buon as we
cau.”
Mrs. Faujkerson said that the
people of Lake Charles have gener-
ously dongted to her the necessary
money and desired The American to!
publish the jetter of thanks which
will be found elsewhere |
of the 24th of Februaky. friends of «
; Coleman employed the frm OF Some BS
payrac & Toomer to asstet in the ae - lee
fense Coleman wett to trial a
, February 25th, was found gality 7 ;
Bentenced to be hanged. a
From the judgment sentencing »
Coteman to death his attorneys
prosecuted an appeal to the supreme.
court amd urged tor grounds of a. nage <3.
tris}: Firat, defendant bad been ws
(Continued on page 4.)
- deel
Frank M. Assunto.
Ageo or — pee
A. J. CUSIMANO & CQ.%
Wines. Liquors 4:6 Imported Goat
Phone 670. a.
met FFE
He prermnies
ever be sold
Smart
lie r
ent Gillis, La. 3
ttn Be A LLG
‘DM. FOSTER
ug ESTATE |
CE: Room 5 Kanfman Building.
ec et le ee te. i ly oe ch oe me ee ee eee
—_— weceveevevrsereee Trereeerery |
In the south. 3
Ww ae --Room OTtage emoarcitine i
city withprick «
Wa stabvent plan. Thave four others for sale 3
4
«
[F\iNsSTON, Real Estate and Abstracts. ai
Roos, --, Yon Hhul & Gordon Building.
eRe hee eee ee sancdanes ness ssacas }
ling the present proposed amend.
“ge Siock of || ment. .
The failure to include the amend.
ment of 1802 wuld of course,
Ig
<orstanding
lows:
$7.00
$15.00}
$15.00
00
30.00
35.00
45.00)
65.00
leso’ PECORDS
ng daily |
C STORE.
TE WT DOWN |
P Constipation
No. 12 Should.
ection.
A lerrebonne
he
joint rua,
j
proposed i
No eo
me
ment
inthis week «
Courier ad
elate te were
aAmendowent,
if adupele 1 at
“er,
H pucks
tha
ree tories
tifaeet
™~
bet
the aL Prgrtre
) Slate atoresaid,
vevery case
be cured by the use of
blood and mucous aorfaces
Pwoll give an oyeter supper on
tlowe'en,
Sand evening,
‘ tt
and many appropriste Bld Interest. rCree
expunge the exemption now enjoyed
by such property trom the constitu.
on, & thing never coulemplated nor
intended by the introducer nor. by
‘the legislature. The — proposed
amendment i« No. 12, and being the
last on the let of those submitted,
It will be easy for voters to mark it
for slaughter.
, State of Ohio, City of Toledo, fi
Jucas County.
Frank J. Cheney makes oath that!
he is senior partoer of the tirm of jbatiy rattled
| on heney & Co,, doing business
in the City or Toledo, County aud | ;paoy heard of tue e@lory and went
and that raid firm | direct te Shen) Reat and Deputy
will pay the eam of GONE HUN.
DRED DOLLARS for each and}
ef Catarrh that vannet!
Halve Cas }
Crigs 7,
anid
tarrb Cure, Fraspn J
Sworn to before me
scribed ap my preseuce,
inf Deven DRE TS Sn
aul
(SEAL ) A.W. Garb sacs,
Notary Vivivine
Hfali’e Catarrh Cure tm taken on
ternally,
vf
myetern Send for testraontale froe
“ORL Crasny a Col, Pole, O
Sold ty all drageata, Fon
Take Palle Family Ville for
Meal
Ov Stet, at their
rooms
the
candy wold beth
‘There wall be mere
will be
the
theowe attending
rteatures te make affair
pole weantoome tee
i) if
han
wack
hones
!
{
y Sfatent Pieur at Ri joa
1h Wo Milier Asrocery t's
‘rf
‘aod vind
Murderer Dies of tright,
OwB eye triad an the Prsreedow
fell
Tie
a ee |
tence fire Wo ott yaa
Mee pete dee dace
ait,
@ed acts directly on ihe:
the:
® t
°
ww
L
oF © © @ ©
’ i jasted
ya vegro named
Lem Dees ina bugey acd that they
told bim to go to Juat meeting and
tell all the negroes to stay away
from the mille this morning or thew
would be cchaudled “fn wonse-
;quence of this story, many of the
Degroes were atrand te pote work,
and thowe who did resort were
|
{
j
!
thas (th day j
‘
|
| Deen went aut to the Pel noth at
‘noon and told the open that there
;Was hot st atoms of ttuth rathe yare
“Pam coneneea,” wank Mier Bel,
tia thee nid wtingder wtertee mre
hotly theopventsane of g few agrita.
tore Pte workimen need pay te
atteutiot to thea. Steed Read wat
| WIAITAILD peace
The ladies of tbe Henterpriee clad, i threaened,
hthreatenbd
eyaby:
A iva will be gives dacetg its ‘
afternoon and fancy articles and. 7
aflerncep |
|
j at the
i Vornake it atrong or, Denuty Sheriff
For the Furst
Far S-r3ed
A: Mos in Operation
T mein Many Weerg
Crews Heport
Te
1h '
thre en y for sone
end. The following now
rucning, and medium sized crews
reaponded to the call of the whiatles
thie morning: J. A. Bel Lamber
Co., Perkins & Miller Lamber Co.,
Tien i Moore & Co., Hodge Fence
cand Lumber Co. and the Long.
‘Belt Co, Matters bave been ad-
and thinge sre moving
4 amoothly in their old accuetomed
sway. The Menefee Lumber Co. and
‘Powell Lumber Co. have contin.
sued througb the entire strike, aleo
the fence tactory of Bk. W. Caan.
nefle, This tocludes the milliog
representation of the city, and with
everything as ‘tis, the will
eoon be but a memory.
One of the thinge tuat operated
this morning against the starting of
the mills with fuil crews was a alory
told ata labor meeting last muht by
Charles Woalliame.
an
alrike- whieh diss yre n By
time is “at
ing
mille are
strike
Heise reported to have tutd the men
meeting that he had met
Sheri kkeid and Deputy Sheriff
J. A. Belof the Bel Lumber com.
it. Both of them entered
anemphatio denial of the etory told
by Wolliames and aaid that neothiog
of the sort had been aad by any of
‘the aberi{f's foree, and that tLe
COMtPArY chime pr rk*t would
he
i Dees about
aati
uty te ow
fully prote ted om ther riyghte
Coemar Escaped Al.er the Tragedy
avd Has Not Been Arresied -
"cers Searched for Him.
\ ‘
Coty Marshal Walham Shoemake, |
of Dethaindey, wae on leat Satuhday |
mht about lock sb d .
Ss Joan : i 4 nies . mig LiIVILES Your Bl
SOREL OKEIOOOEK!
Lee H. Colemau, a well
known saloon man of DeQuincey
There has been bad feeling between
pla: t lay
XOX
the tweoinen for acme time, ito
gayi. and it was that which led up| found several miles from that place | (——
toth« killing, After the shooting jin the woods.
Colvin remamed in) DeQuinecey before the shooting occurred, 1
upc. sevenoreight o'clock Sunday ie call, Shoemake wae playing bil. |
morcin, When be Jett therein a jyarda im another saloon and while |
buses acd bes not beer seen ainee domeyg so Coleman came in and.
Per coroner and ser dhs office fooked at bim, goog out afterward, |
here were notitied Dr. Fisher went Whoo Socemake Guiehed Bre game |
to Det semeey and beld the inquest he walked out of the sslvon sod
Surcasom Several meu from iwentto tne place Whefe he wae ehor |
the sherntls attice here aldo weng to Here he sat down by a card table
rhing,
the pow o and weoured the aucrourd. and wae wate bing the game.
In contry for Coleman Surdas.ba') Wile be was eturg here, tia!
Ceuid beens trace of him except the cmtayes, Coleman walked in andi
buss) Gud borae by tneane of whieh | without a word went up te him and:
be ts DeQuincey, “Thess were! commenced shouling . Sbeemake:
iste adive to get uuder the table:
} after the fivet ehot. four abots!
How Nature Prov ides, ‘were fred aitogether, tao of which!
;Mtruck Shvoemake,botm in the mde
At the eoroner’a inquent Cole. |
Our Beauty, Health and rhieotuanl
Is {pot posable. aod altogether prob j man ® partner in the saloon buaincas,
Abe tit rementa necessary for the oF T Kent, teatifed that Coleman.
bet ba ti are contamed in the med-
teir-ars:-t¥ Word pry the earth, degested aed bome from Lake Charlee under ;
in jal jabermtory of Nerare aod [the influence of Iijuor, aod tld |
Meals oracs for man or anma!? Ih
4 ’ t
To eteae mgrowing belief among ecten- | mp he bad-bouges a new gee. He
tate Liat the vegetable kipgdom for States that he attempted to get Mle:
manto yg take a walk with bim to.
marie Us wth the necessary elementa
lor tocd makin a j
r oe oe See eee eae | wt bite @@ay from possible troable,
cate te ance uf + that the buman !
An a a wm, apt to disturb by wrong | [but that Coleman ineieued on Panty a
methocte of lbwng. Thoe we know that ied thot ‘ R {
Sa sicuitl ges thmiiikeas habe’ Taser one | otimader’s place. He waa few
jfees behind Coleman, aad wheo
wheat io our bread-or eome cerra
formde aocdir . piece certain Vegetalirs, oe vleman got tate Hollander's the
Me) we ep cme DN Mrie Teenie,
It ttie ¥e teal! Kea tl, then onr beat ‘apatite piel '
mellow! for recovering en standard | Une witoees, J. M. Reeveg wati..
a ce of henith ts nd to Nature's iflel that Coleman bought, a new)
7 feu the iant i:
forrest, he * cal ‘sale @ ebich wall | ; Sis Ye gon at Murtsy Browtes Hard
'
Buried deep on Gar formate lative yiamt H ware company im the stlernooy @bile.
wed order sf thay ares)
they
men Re@ fel alone
{
dp |
|
biul are
Ht the
everythin wll rmicve alongs
noteven |}
nag Apdo remuite of
pryaienl Dewut iby ing im ite tencdoie 5
ue the ompler
{
an @usbiliot ber bee brant]
ifulinevery way When a women
leete a ped etart be takrey Wad |
} ”
‘footers ’e Hock Mountarnn bes ate sa]
jal Lenght “Pemcer Pabsleta 0. conte
Vou Phat & Grerdon
| Cotton Seed Meat wood deatla at!
i beatte bed toe Pbivvtre bots '
|
} . . ° °
\ COMING AND GOING
|
|
Antonio:
S frretidms
Known ae toiden heal (HMydraatia: the sy fake « ‘barlee, remarking ips he
reartiaf we betwen, M finie My a
Profeme: 1 Matera Meira at Habre, b8d been ran over long enough
pan Mrscoal Cohege, Chicape pindie.t Arcther witneas. Harney Perkines
"Th relaie: to ste pre nere) effects om the. - 4
eyateni. there we me medicine on tee ‘teatched tbat Mhoemake was sithirg
About whieh there woeuch genere! un (at tbe poler table eth hie riught
Metts Of pods is us nhvemaliy | eule tewatd tloleman.: whi wheb Ke:
egardes! ap tie tort eweful om all de ! ; i
tileeted tate” Dts bale eontnuee fentere |) wathed upto nom and firea
“Prof Jotyn Mota octder save. dt etm ifour abote al bin ben te wali
Watee the UD pete pee esas, and oo |
Crranes the msec mtn of fend pirat
time mieare the blowed coroner e Telurne} 6:
His bricwat feecde Ube
‘PD mention then om ier 6s eter fas ain
¢ aa
‘e encehed. and | The jury
hecnign avetem * iver f..tihat Shoemake came to hie!
(death trom piatol abe
Tobeheve if finet feele be inc remerd | te Hred frore @;
po@er emparted by thr etimpinsiom of | preter mithe fante of tee Coleman
TTOVP ABET orkriticen The Comer inent 1 vente. Ba
oprovemert on the uervore end | Phat ome tall entered the right bps,
gispdnian eyeten ware ator veauite * one entersd ower the ryht bidnes
Lith: 1 +> i ‘
Riillingsa or (beeen @ tok ie aethesr (and pasmed ont
teat whi bh bes beateg Deon tn repute ap)
By BIG Ate Lael pareter) amc Prot j thes Mhoemake tived
of the left _
oaly @lout
Jobo Rong MT) pass of ht An minutes after bem aber Vhe ; Dee
a terative Gert ammo) ft few of anwi :
peewee ee BOT Sas compommt of AD Marwei!
viber of the bh ap eiteratitee mse
eicreme! 1, wa Brel ecrefiy. om ater iM Cail, dake Hig manien Ww
| tena Peet mt in brome tims atten ts re ital! and J. Juve Hertford
Permanent scopes brome bite whey ae :
TTILAL ME EE portant feongh ren esty |
roughe of yeaa etmnding bang cored Hiaet Vesoning |
Ande tu bheend mak: “e ican putrithe, -feewite from Chrome conmsGpatiog. |
wil tay be taken oul barm turjwhirh 16 peickly cured by Drs
eg pers | hy nge New lite Pile They ren]
Nears forty cearn age, PF ROY ;
Terese of Kaflals NOY enenctoned gp ove all pesonoge germs from thes
eatract of the teu @howe recta te priher ay eter apdortume new lifeand vier,
!
with Gat fo tore reat Mine Chery fogreaograbomach aauema, headache, |
fir. Be tet Maedim be wad eine
$ ' inet r > . TPH '
Mi acd Wem Sf? ] spe Peter Penne et w prem@rpton whack he wut | 2! kay ieee ere wes} le == erihire
OF tore Satara nrpete atten oa Pape OO tee te me form mad celia oF ayer: mfert ot (Suarmotend |
Jin Parts 8 ter Mest. mi Dimer eery tty ali drug giete j
three tonmth eo bees noSew York It @as ret wise commend cee forrectiog | : ‘
mob ME wate picttite ae © anada fmeeb cutonp meh mote Ae were dia | baney batanae at ote miad 1S a!
r ; (bes @tecpach med isvet be Pebpgemerte " rote : ot
ts 5 eriiey #pon hn aday in fiatinwrel by ite biecad jue reb, # eet ab bang t mize uuoMw
Poe airvevscnst foodie eae toweek ator ach tdigee | Miller trroorry te Vines mu
to ysriew Wa a wan ap hier 2 Ce Deb wlotm@eh pg gd Ts “ut '
t lerwels fet { biver. oe ? Pele mej :
gecge mt Oh bee wie tee. ety? phisbeos St een: we ey ee , eee va i en a i a IT OS Ae ee NP ee Fr ee Yt as ‘
;
O»D
-
| ES
‘ors
South Claiborne Avenue, near Dublin St., when a closed car passed them, in which two men were
riding. One.of thetwo men suddenly leaned out and flung something into the Claiborne canal,
they said, and the car went on, going very fast. Their curiosity aroused, the boys said they
peered into the canal and spied a pistol lodged in the mud at the water's edge, and started
to climb down to get it when a man they had never seen before approached .and-ordered them
not to touch the gun, The boys were frightened, and went .to Patrolman Stanley Breen of the
9th Precinct Station, who was stationed to directtnaffic near the school during the luncheon
recess, They reported the indident to Patrolman Breen, who went with them, and got thegun
after they had pointed it out, €
"The boys did not notice thelicense number of the car, but their description of it tallies
with that-of Rabito’s car, police said, South Vlaiborne Avenue, along which the car was
driving, leads directly from the Jefferson Parish Highwayalong which the death car was seen
to have fled from the scene of Rabito's death, Information reaching police later in.the day
indicated that Rabito and his two companions had stopped at the Jefferson Service Station,
which is on the *irline Highway, to buy gasoline,about noonsg Stanley Bernard, owner of the
station, said that hehad waited on three men driving a green Studebaker sedan, and that at
the time they stopped to buy gas they .appeared to be having an argument, .
"Members of the New Orleans homicide squad who wmt to the scene of the crime included Eapt,
Edward L, Delatte, Sergeant Joseph Raggio, Captain Frank Lanes and Detective William Grosch.
Coroner Odom of Jefferson Parish was also notified, but reported &Shat Rabito was dead when
he reached-the spot, In addition to his widown, the former Miss Katherine Rando, and his 2
~ children, Rabito is survived.by his mother, .Mrs, Anthony Rabito; six brothers, Joseph, John,
~ Salvadore, Peter, Vincent and Gustave, and tw sisters, Mrs. Emanuel Palmissano and Mrs, Ben
Latino, Rabito s is the fourth death to occur in his,.immediate family in the space of less
than two years,” The:.others were those of his father, his older brother, .and his protherts
infant child, A second cousin of the slain man, Mrs, Mamie Rabito Fausillo, died in Los
Angeles New Year's Evee Her body is being brought to New Orleans for burial, Funeral Ser-
vices for Rabito will be eonducted Saturday at 9:30 a.m, at the funeral home of Lamana-
Panno-Fallo, Ince, 625 North Rampart Street, following which requiem mass will be said in
St, Matthias'.Catholic Church, South Broad and General Pershing Street, and interrment will
be in Metairie Cemetery." TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, ha, 1/6/1933 (1/1). Photosof
Rapito, Andrews, Site of homicide and map of area on page three, this issue. .
"Bach naming the other as the instigator of the crime and as the actual slayer, 2 men were
said by police to have signed confessions Friday night to the kidnaping and mrder Thursday
of Charles Rabito, wholesale grocery clerk, Simultaneously with the annouhcement that they
had obtained confessions from John Capaci, 28-years-old, 2801 Jackson Avenue, and George
Dallao, 28, 262) Second Street, police ordered the rd easeof Several other persons who had
_been arrested for questioning in connection with the killing, In their signed confessions,
Capaci and Pallao each charged the other with plotting the kidnaping and with firing 2 shots
‘into Rabito s head after he was kidnaped while en route to a’bank to deposit money for the
company by which he was employed and driven to an isolated spot near Bridgedale, in Jeffer-
son Parish. | : ae
"Shortly after obtaining the confessions, police recovered $1,096 of the $1,446.66 which is
_ reported to have been taken from Rabito by his slayers, Of the sum recovered, according to
police, $520 was found in Capaci's home and $576 ih the home of Dallao's mother, Mrs,
Anthony Dallao, on Delachaise St. near LaSalle Street. A formal charge of mrder was filed
against Dallao Friday afternoon in Jefferson parish, and officers said that a similar charge
will be filed today against Capaci, After Capaci and Dallao confessed to the slaying,
according to police, it was disclosed by John Rabito how his dead brother had befriended Ca-
pacie At the time Capaci is charged with luring Charles Rabito to his death, Rabito was
assisting him in a search’ for employment, John Rabito said, -
"As John Rabito sat beside the coffin of his brother Friday night, he recounted the friend-
ship which existed over a period of 7 years‘ between the slain man ahd the alleged slayere
'My brother thought the world of John Capaci,' John Rabito said,' We do a cash and carry
business, but Charles was so fond of Capaci that he sold him groceries on credit, signed
his notes and madehimself personally responsible for debts contracted by Capaci. Capaci
wanted a job and asked my brother to recommend him for it, Charles agreed to do this and so
did. I for we felt toward Capaci like a brother, It was a terrible shock,’ worse even than
Charles! death, to know that his friend had been implicated in the crime,’ He said that he
and Charles Rabito had seen Capaci almost every day for 7 years. Mrs, Charles Rabito never
met Capaci but she had heard her husband speak of him so often she felt she knew him well,
-she said Friday. 'Yharles spoke so highly of Capaci,' Mrs, Rabito continued, 'that I felt
like he was a member of the family. Nearly every day my husband wuld tell me about John
15), SOUTHERN )19 orcas iii i a prmieNMies 460°
DALLEO, George, and CAPACI, John, hanged at Gretna, Louisiana, on May 18,. 193k.
"Believed by police to have been 'taken for a ride' and robbed by two bandits, Charles Ra-
bito, 39=-years-old, #H#a#X clerk for a wholesale grocery company, was murdered and his body
was left in a field at Bridgedale, Jefferson Parish, shortly after noon Thursday (1/5/'32).
Police said that robbery apparently was the only mi ive for the crime, .Rabito had been sent
to a bank to deposit $2,381.49 incash and checks shortly after noon by J. J, Witherspoon,
manager of the wholesale grocery company, and had left his place of employment in his auto-=
mobil e.
"The dead man's automobile was found at ); p,m. abandoned at Dublin and Parish Sts., and in
the car police found $93.83 in checks which Rabito had been directed to deposit, along with
$1,446.66 in currency for the grocery company, The currency was missinge Police said that
they had been informed that shortly after he left the grocery store Rabito was hailed on
Poydras Street, near Claiborne Avenue, by an unidentified man who got into his automobile
and drove away with him, Rabito is survived by his widow, a 2-year-old son, Charles, Jr.,
and an infant son, Emile, who live at the family home, 3203 General Taylor Street,
."\ ,32-caliber revolver found by two schoolboys, and vague descriptions of two men furnished
-by a Jefferson Parish youth and a negro boy who heard the fatal shot and led police to Ra-
bito's body formed the basis of one of themostdetermined manhunts ever organized by police
of two parishes when they set out Thursday to discover the murderer of the clerk, illiam
Andrews, 18, Jefferson Heights, and a negro boy, Robert Brooks, ran up to two highway patrol-
men.at 12:35 p.m. Thursday after they had heard two shots near the Airling Highway at Bridge-
dale, Jefferson Parish, and the negro, who had caught sight of Rabito s bleeding body as he
ran across a field, .led the ofhers to the spot. Before calling police, ¥oung Andrews had the
presmce of mind to take down the number of the automobile in which the men believed to be
the criminals were making their escape, The auto proved to be Rabitg's,
"Andrews told the highway patrolmen, GeorgeHeintz and Ernest Roos, that he had been driving
cows along the railroad track near the highway, toward the Betty-Lou Dairy, where he works,
when a green sedan passed him and turned off the highway and anto a side road, 'The car.
stopped,' he said, 'and two men.got out, leaving another man at the,wheel, They were all
white mene the.engine was racing when they got out of the car, I didn't see their faces
well, because I was about 100 yards away, but I noticed them because before they got out they
had turned the car around so that it faced back toward the highway. The two men walked off
out of my sight, and about half a minute later I heard two shots and saw one of the men dash
back to the car and jump in as the man at the wheel started it, I thought the third man
must have been‘killed or hurt, so I‘go the car number = a 1932 license, 10-253. Is aw the
two highway patrolmen coming along the road, and as I started toward them Ro bert’ Brooks ran
toward me through the bushes ahd yelled that there was a man bleeding to death in the field,
He said he heard the shots too, We ran and got the patrolmen and Robert showed, us where the
body was.' Patrolman Heintz notified Earl Rolling, chief deputy sheriff of Jefferson Parish
who called & Charity Hospital ambulance, ‘when the ambulance arrived, Rabito was pronounced
dead by internes, Two .32=caliber steel-jacketed bullets had been fired into Rabito's head
according to the report of a joint autopsy conducted at the city morgue by Coroner George
F, Roeling of New Orleans and Coronér M, M, Vaom of Jefferson Parish, The first bullet ent-
ered the left eye, passing through the head; the second struck the left side of the chinbone
and passed out at the right side of the head, Although part of the money Rabito was to have
deposited was not found, apparently no attempt had been made to search his clothes, police
_said. They found $10 in money and a watch in his pockets.
"The body was identified as that of Rabito by his brother John, who is also an employeeof
the Davis-Mize WholesaleGrocery Company, 600 South Claiborne Ave., where Charles Rabito
worked. ‘he cooperation of New Orleans authorities was reouested by Jefferson Parish Police
and the detective force, headed by Chief Grosch, was assigned to follow the cases The in-
vestigation was placed under the supervision of 3 assistant district attorneys, Michael E,
Culligan, Chandler Luzenberg, Jr. and Niels Hertz. Hardly was the inouiry under way before
2 schoolboys, pupils of the Lafayette elementary school, turned over to police what may
prove the most vital clue in the hunt for the criminalsethe revelver which police believe wa:
the murder weapon, Chief Grosch announced Thursday afternoon that he would attempt to trace
the owner of the gun by its number and that he hoped this would point to a trail le ading the
detective force to the discovery of the bandits,
"The two boys Patrick Hodgss, 13, 233 Dublin Street, and Maurice Volenweider, 12 8807
' 9 9 +59 9 9 +29
i ing : i t af-
Colapissa Street, were returning to the school, at Carrollton Avenue and Apricot Stree
tke noon ahi They had been home for lunch, The boys said they were walking along
CURRY,K Will,
NEGRO IS HANGED
AFTER CONFESSING
GUILT OF MURDER
Shreveport, La., November 25.—Will
Curry, negro, wus hanged at Many,
Iu., today for the murder of Mrs, John
S. Harper, wife of a Sabine parish
farmer, who was killed several weeks
aso ut her home. Curry confessed
before going to his death, that he
black, hanged Sabine Parish, LA November 25,
|
killed the woman so he could attack’
her 14-year-old daughter, into whose
room, he stated, he Nad slipped sey-
eral times at night in an unsueccess-
fw effort to attack her, being fright-
‘ened away as she seemed to be nwaken-
ing from her sleep.
Caleb Hudson, another negro, who
Was convicted with Curry and sen-|
tenced ta hang, but whose execution
was stayed yesterday, was led to the .
Keaffold as if to be hanged, to obtain
n confession before he was told of the
reprieve, le declared he was going to
his death an innocent man. Then he
was returned to jail to await a new
trial,
CONSTITUTION, Atlanta, GA 11/26/1921,p3,c4
1921
CYRINA, Slave, hanged Shreveport, Louisiana, on Oct. 26, 189.
I believe that the following is the case referred to:
"LOULSIANA: POISONING AT SHREVESPORT: A few days since Mr, Ezekiah
Crawford, overseer of Henry Bullard at Shrevesport, Caddo Parish,
was poisoned under the following cir@umstances: Crawford had the
night vrevious invited a friend to stay with him and the next morn-
ing at breakfast discovered that his coffee was more bitter than
usual and spoke of it to his friend who said that his had no
unusual taste. After rising from the table he observed he was going
blind and in a few seconds fell into spasms and died before
assistance could be had, It seems that the cook had attempted it
before with BKAXK calomel, and being unsuccessful, had got some
strychnine and put it into his coffee which she confessed
immediately upon being apprehended and implicated a negro man on
RRR the plantation in the deed. Both were to be tried on the 11th,"
KEWXORKKANSXNXMEXKA TIMES-PICAYUNE, NEW ORLEANS, LA, 10/15/18h9
(1:h)
The Shadow Of A Noose
Solved The Mystery
As the schooner Patriot weighed anelior with the tide in Charleston harbor, Governor
Joseph Alston of South Carolina and his wife Theodosia kissed good-bye. It was to be
their last kiss.
Theodosia was the daughter of Aaron Burr, who had been living abroad for four years
_as the result of the disgrace connected with his trial for treason. In answer to Theodosia’s
entreaties he had returned to New York. She was going to meet him.
150
ee a
‘
See ee Ss OE ea
ieeeeeet ean
‘a
£ . ~ ay
' a
alae as erdng ramen ee
4 lA =
7
a
aS
SZ ri
¥*
3
Case Of The Guilty Corpse °
The defendant was a corpse in one of Louisiana’s strangest court cases. After being
tried according to a legal procedure (in the presence of a curator), the corpse was con-
victed and given the following sentence.
“To be tied on a hurdle to the back of a cart, by the public executioner, head down-
wards and face to the ground, and to be thus dragged through the streets of this city
(New Orleans) to the place where he will be hanged by the feet to a scaffold for the
purpose erected, and, after having remained there 24 hours, to be thrown into the public
sewer.
On November 23, 1765, the corpse of Jean-Baptiste, an Indian slave belonging to Robin
de Logny of New Orleans; served its sentence. It had been convicted of a crime
punishable by infamy and the denial of Christian burial. The account of the trial,
preserved in the archives of the French Superior Council of Louisiana and translated in
the Louisiana Historical Quarterly (July, 1932), continues that:
“At 4 o'clock in the evening, after having reread the above decree to the curator of the ©
corpse in its presence, it was placed in the hands of the executioner of high justice, who
executed the decree in all its parts.”
The crime with which the defendant was charged and proven guilty? Jean-Baptiste
had committed suicide by hanging himself with a rope to a peach tree in the courtyard of
the Criminal Chamber of Justice.
143
mmo
After the usual sleuthing and maneuvering by a cunning and efficient police force, the
criminals were apprehended. They confessed, were swiftly tried, convicted, and sen-
tenced to death by hanging. It would be a sort of double feature Roman holiday. A crowd
estimated well up into the thousands gathered in the vicinity of the old parish prison on
Orleans Street.
There were no signs of inclement weather as the hour of execution approached. The
condemned men were led onto the scaffold, set up in full view of the vast throng of
onlookers. The crowd was said to have been the largest that had ever gathered to wit-
ness such a spectacle at that place. There were the usual preliminaries to the main event,
during which signs of an approaching thunderstorm were unnoticed or ignored.
And then everything happened at once. The Cathedral bells tolled the noon
hour, the hangman’s ax clicked, and the trap fell. Simultaneously there was a blinding
flash of lightning, accompanied by a drenching torrent of rain. As the crowd scattered for
shelter it was observed that the two condemned men had slipped through their nooses,
falling to the pavement below. They were still alive, though one was unconscious.
There was great excitement and confusion; the sheriff. was at a loss as to what to do.
Nothing like that had ever occurred within his memory. The crowd clamored for the
men’s release. They had been hanged once; it would be wrong to hang them again, and
unfair. They had their chance and won.
The governor was appealed to, and his decision was to go ahead with the hanging. The
battered, suffering, tortured hunks of humanity were carried bodily onto the gallows and
the procedure repeated. This time there was no slip in the nooses, and their lives were
snuffed out. | os
But their dying in such a cruel, inhumane manner so disgusted onlookers that the
Louisiana legislature was prevailed upon to abolish public hangings.
Perhaps the whole sickening performance was partly the work of a Supreme Being,
calculated to shock the populace back to their normal senses.
133
tape,
The Rope Was Wet And Slippery
It happened in New Orleans in the year 1852: a flash of lightning and a sudden
downpour of rain at a strategic moment changed the course of Louisiana's criminal
history.
The story is told in the book, New Orleans As It Was, by Henry C. Castellanos,
published in 1895. Two house painters named Adam and Delille used their trade as a
stepping stone to the gallows. And their gruesome execution sounded a death knell to
public hangings in the city. :
In the summer of 1852 the two men were engaged by a Mr. Chevillon, who lived at the
corner of Craps and Clouet streets, to paint his combination dwelling house and grocery
store, inside and out. This gave them an opportunity to look around and do some close
observing.
Adam and Delille soon learned where the family kept their money. They Also noticed
that the elderly Mrs. Chevillon went to church at a certain time every Sunday afternoon.
While she was away her husband walked across the street to chat with a friend, sitting on
the front porch in full view of his place. .
It was a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Chevillon left for church, leaving her
trusted servant in charge of the house and store, while Mr. Chevillon walked over for his
customary visit. A younger brother of Delille was loitering in the vicinity, which was
nothing unusual. What they did not see, however, was the other two men entering the
rear of the house.
The intruders hurried to the armoire where a bag filled with money and other
valuables was kept, grabbed it, and were about to make their escape when the Negro
servant confronted them. There was no time to lose. One held the woman while the
other cut her throat from ear to ear.
The bag was passed to the younger Delille who left immediately. The two murderers,
going in the opposite direction toward the Cathedral, stopped by the police station to chat
a while with the officer in charge. Evidently they had visions of establishing an alibi as to
the time element.
132
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ox
tor made another trip to Barataria. This
time, Juliette went with him.
They took along an object the doctor
valued highly—a piece of ebony that had
as its center a disc of crystal. There
among the bayous, Juliette gazed into the
crystal and went into her trances. She
described a place on a beach beside the
rotting hull of a small boat. They located
the spot and the doctor dug there. To his
great delight, his shovel uncovered a
handful.of coins of ancient date.
He dug frantically that day and the
next, but found nothing further. Still it
was encouraging. At last they returned to
New Orleans, determined to throw them-
selves with increasing fervor into their
labors.
But in the evenings, Juliette again be-
gan receiving calls from jeweler Charles
Francois. Jules Deitsch found himself re-
lenting in his attitude toward him be-
cause of something that had happened
the day after Juliette’s return from
Barataria. Coming home late that eve-
ning, he had found his daughter and
young McCarthy in what could only be
described as very compromising circum-
stances. It seemed probable that no
irreparable damage had been done. But
this was clearly a time for decision.
He threatened McCarthy with arrest if
he returned to the house again. Then he
decided it was useless to fight against the
drives of nature. Whereas he despised
. McCarthy, Francois seemed acceptable
enough and he was well-to do. In spite of
the girl’s youth, perhaps it would be best
if she married him, and as quickly as pos-
sible. The next time Francois called, he
encouraged the romance, and on a day in
Mid-January, Francois told him Juliette
had agreed to marry him. The wedding
was set for early February.
A few days after this, a rather awkward
scene occurred when Juliette’s young
sister, Lauretta, happened to drop past
the doctor’s office after remaining late at
school. The door was unlocked, and she
entered. Finding no one in the office, she
opened the door of the doctor’s bedroom.
The blinds were drawn and at first she
could see no one.. .
Then from the doctor’s bed, Juliette
gave a little scream and quickly pulled
the bedclothes up to her chin. The doctor
was not in the room.
“Promise you won’t mention a word of
what you saw to Daddy,” Juliette cau-
tioned her sister. “He’d be furious with
the doctor.” .
“I promise,” Lauretta agreed, and asked
where the doctor was.
“Gone'out to get more chloroform to
finish our experiment. Go on home and
tell Daddy I'll be there soon. Don’t say a
word to Charles either when he comes
tonight.” .
Two days later, at about 4:30 on the
afternoon of January 30, 1889, a night
watchman named Charles Serra, who
lived in'the front apartment on the third
floor at 68 St. Peter Street, noticed a
strong odor of chloroform in the corridor.
He knew about the doctor’s experiments
and had often noticed an odor. But this
time it was so strong that he decided to
investigate.
When there was no answer to his
knock, he tried the doorknob and the door
swung open. The office was empty, and
he tiptoed into the bedroom, which was’
darkened.
What he saw sent him running down-
stairs to the Third Precinct Police Sta-
tion, which was only a few doors away.
Captain John Journee summoned Officers
Fernand DeRance and George Legendre
and they all came running back with him.
They found Juliette Deitsch and Dr.
Etienne Deschamps lying side by side on
the bed. It was quickly determined that
the girl was dead, though her body, which
was nude, was still warm. The burns on
her lips and the lack of other marks on
her body indicated that she had died of an
overdose of chloroform.
Dr. Deschamps had been stabbed re-
peatedly with his own scalpel, which now
protruded from his chest: He had bled
considerably and was unconscious. But
his heart was still beating. The officers
rushed him to nearby Charity Hospital.
The identity of the dead girl was
learned from the landlady, and her father
was informed. Then Coroner Y.R. Lemon-
nier and District Attorney Charles H.
Luzenberg were sent for. While Lemon-
‘nier examined the body, Luzenberg and
Captain Journee searched the room.
The first thing they noticed was the
piece of ebony with the glittering center,
which Fay on the bloody bed. Jules Deitsch
had séen it often, and explained its use.
Apparently Juliette had met death while
she and the doctor were in the midst of
an experiment. But why, the investiga-
tors wondered, had she been in the nude?
Lauretta Deitsch supplied the answer,
explaining how she had seen Juliette nude
in the doctor’s bed while he was away.
Apparently it was customary for the bud-
ding seeress to see her visions while in
this condition.
A’ number of letters to the doctor were
found on his desk, signed: “With love,
J. D.” Apparently they had been written
by the pretty victim while he was at
Barataria. One of these mentioned
Anthony McCarthy while another spoke
of her meeting with Charles Francois.
When Jules Deitsch told of the part these
two men had played in his daughter’s
life, police were sent to find them and
bring them to the station.
Word came from the hospital that Dr.
Deschamps’ wounds were not severe and
that he would undoubtedly recover. But
he was in a coma and so they could not
speak with him.
District Attorney Luzenberg now ques-
tioned Lauretta Deitsch more intensively.
STATEMENT paouie
2,
» AND JULY 2, 1946 Ay ed 8
Section 233) SHOWING THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGE.
MENT, AND CIRCULATION OF
STARTLING DETECTIVE published bi-monthly at Green-
wich, Conn., for October 1, 1953.
1, The names and addresses of the publisher, editor.
managing editor, and business managers are: Publisher,
Faweett Publications, Inc., Greenwich, Conn.; Editor,
Joseph Piazza, Queens,,N. Y¥.; Managing Editor, Ralph
Datgh, Pelham Manor, N. Y.; Business Manager, Gordon
Fawcett, Greenwich, Conn.
2. The owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name
and address must be stated and also immediately there-
under the names and addresses of stockholders owning or
holding 1 percent or more of total amount of stock. If
not owned by a corporation, the names and addresses of
the individual owners must be given, If owned by a partner-
ship or other unincorporated , its name and address,
as Well as that of each individual member, must be given.)
Fawcett Publications, Inc., Greenwich, Conn.; W. .
Fawcett, Jr., Norwalk, Conn. ; Marion Base. Kansas City,
Mo.; Roger Fawcett, Greenwich, Conn.; V. D. Fawcett,
Greenwich, Conn.; M. B. Fawcett, Norwalk, Conn. ; Estate
of Mira King, Oxnard, Cal.; Gordon W. Fawcett, Green-
wich, Conn, ; Gloria Leary, Santa Monica, Cal.; V. F. Kerr,
Santa Barbara, Cal.; Mrs, Eva Roberts, Seattle, Wash. ;
H. A. Faweett, Greenwich, Conn.; Roscoe Kent Fawcett,
Greenwich, Conn.; M. F. Fawcett, Greenwich, Conn. +
3. The known bontiholders, mortgagees, and other security
holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount
of bonds, mortgages, or other securites are: (If there are
none, 80 state.) None.
4, Paragraphs 2 and 3 include, in cases where the stock-
holder or security holder appears upon the books of the
company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the
name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee
is acting; also the statements in the two paragraphs show
the affiant’s full knowledge and belief as to the circum-
stances and conditions under which stockholders and security
holders who do not appear upon the ks of the company
as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other
than that of a bona fide owner.
5. The average number of copies of each issue of this
publication sold or distributed, through the mails or other-
wise, to paid subscribers during the 12 months prancing
the date shown above was: (This information is require
from daily, weekly, semiweekly, and triweekly newspapers
)
only.
GORDON FAWCETT,
Business Manager.
worn to and subscribed before me this 21st day of
8
September, 195:
ge LILLIAN M. KLEIN
(My commission expires April 1, 1958)
-
She admitted that
promise to tell no «
and said she had
said she herself |
threaten to kill a:
Juliette. She said
though a shy man
ture and subject t
By this time, C
finished his exami!
confirmed that dea
overdose of chlor
it as his opinion th
intimate terms wi
period of time. The
her body and oth:
had been subject
violent practices. |
that she was preg
certain until the ;
During the earl
Carthy and Char!
brought in for q
was able to conv:
had been at the ra:
noon and it woul:
for him to have cc
was quickly relea
Francois, who a
had no such alibi
alone in his jewel
until about 4. He}
briefly and gone
backstreet, where
a cup of coffee, re
not remember see
was not certain t!
member hit.
He denied havi
Street. Told of tl
his fiancee and t
incredulous.
“But he was an
“She told me he \
It never occurre:
was going on. \V
ster!”
“Suppose you'd
the district attor:
you have done?”
“T don't know
furious.”
“We think tha
out,” Luzenbers
Lauretta or Juli
here at 4 to see
them together.
influence of chol«
doctor with his
dead, you finishe
chloroform to |
happened?”
“No. I wasn't |
even know abou
came for me.”
Luzenberg hac
what effect the
Francois, knowi
none of them.
Francois held.
Later that ev:
ceived that Des.
sciousness. The
Captain Journee
pital.
Dr. Descham
handages, lay |
told of the sis
mitted having be
Deitsch since th
to his office alo
that there had b:
him. He denied
had died.
“We were in
he said, “and | |
form. She was
treasure was bi
had seen the sz
At last she saw
iffy. “My
magnetic
Sorbonne,
Europe. I
s country.
scores of
they're all
s, too?”
ven. I have
he nature
such that
ially dis-
reat bene-
ad studied
trian psy-
ut where
iental ills
wh school
1 physical
while the
of hypno-
ig his trim
ie mind is
e changes
treatment.
ng results.
just left
nal crea-
he was on
treatments
ind peace.”
een a stub-
pnosis, the
rely on a
method
chloroform
he physical
that chloro-
r-effects—a
ptoms. But
1 asked ex-
ted of. “It’s
lings—it is
in to undér-
ined for it.”
inds, which
th delicate,
s you would
etic physi-
leclined, as
nps had be-
city that he
tients. Mrs.
hat she had
ist of the
still young
ider women
ealthy men.
»y the little
imed Jules
was a recent
1, a carpen-
ently been
‘left him for
e man of lit-
e rearing of
too much for
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ioctor.
re pupils at
1, just down
aid in a sad
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had a wild
other men,
rirls because
school every
) watch over
But Juliette
she is older I
e young man
[ worry be-
acta Salil. Sl Eat “ r antl pverikas Eeae
cause she is getting so like her mother.
Yesterday I found her in the kitchen
kissing the butcher boy.”
“And what do you want of me, my.good
man?” Deschamps said a little irritably.
“You are a man of education and wis-
dom. You have a power over people’s
minds. Talk with Juliette. Try to change
her so she does not grow up like her
mother.”
The doctor stroked his beard thought-
fully. “Such a thing is quite possible,” he
said. “But I have too many patients now.”
“But you needn’t spend much time with
her. She could drop in on her way from
school and you could just talk with her a
little. Then she could stay until I come
home from work. She'd be quiet and no
trouble. You are my countryman, and I
have no one else to turn to. If some man
makes trouble for my Juliette before I
can get her married, I think I would kill
him.”
‘T am not running a nursery, my good
man. It is out of the question. Good day,
sir.”
“But Ll havé brought Juliette with me,”
Deitsch pleaded. “I told her to wait out-
side, so I could explain about her mother.
When you see her, you will understand
my problem.”
He turned and opened the door. Juliette
Deitsch entered the room.
She was a girl in the full bloom of her
youth, with soft dark hair and sultry
brown eyes set in a face with curious
doll-like beauty. The cheap cotton dress
she was wearing failed to disguise the
womanly development of her lithe, cur-
vaceous figure. As her glance met that of
the doctor, the eyes of both showed a
sudden surprised interest.
Dr. Deschamps stared thoughtfully at
her.and said; “Sit down, please, Miss
Deitsch. Your father has been telling me
about you. Would you like to be a patient
of mine?”
“Oh yes.” A smile dimpled the corners
of the girl’s full, ripe lips. “I think that
would be very nice.”
“Hmm.” Deschamps continued to stare
at her. Then he turned abruptly to Jules
Deitsch.
“You are a very lucky man, sir,” he
said. “As it happens, I have other inter-
ests besides my practice. Mine is a restless
mind, and I have found that my magnetic
powers are steadily on the increase. I find
that I have developed powers of clair-
voyance—that I am frequently able to see
things at a distance, both in space and
time. Being a practical man, I intend
putting my ability to use. I hope to locate
mineral properties—even find buried
treasures—through clairvoyance.
“But to get the best results, I need a
medium—I myself will train her—whe
when under hypnotism will read secrets
of the earth that are beyond even my
powers. It is well-known that the powers
of clairvoyance are greatest in adolescent
girls. You are an intelligent enough man
to believe in clairvoyance, aren't you, Mr.
Deitsch?”
Deitsch replied eagerly that he was.
“Then I'll make you a business proposi-
tion. Let me train your daughter as a
medium. I'll arrange my office hours so
that she can come here straight from
school. I’ll keep her here and teach her
until you arrive home from work. In re-
turn for her services, I’ll make you a full
partner in my first big enterprise. Using
your daughter as a medium, I intend to
iocate the treasure of the pirate, Jean
Lafitte, which as everyone knows is
buried somewhere near Barataria, south
of New Orleans.”
Deitsch’s round, open face beamed de-
lightedly. “You would make me a partner
and you would take care of my daughter
after school, too?”
“You may rest assured that I will take
care of her. We shall start tomorrow. Is
that satisfactory to you, Miss Deitsch?”
The girl blushed and nodded. :
In the following weeks, the observant
Mrs. Hilroy noticed the sultry-eyed
young beauty who came to the doctor’s
quarters promptly at 3:30 every day. Oc-
casionally she would be with a younger
girl, apparently her sister. But usually she
came alone.
Several times while in the top floor
corridor in the late afternoon, Mrs. Hil-
roy noticed the odor of chloroform com-
ing from under the doctor’s door. She
noticed, too, that when the girl left the
office, she would sometimes walk un-
steadily. But this sort of thing no longer
bothered Mrs. Hilroy. Nowadays she her-
self often visited the doctor. She was quite
reconciled to the ways of the great man
who lived in her humble abode.
Others who knew the doctor soon be-
gan to see him in public places with
Juliette Deitsch, who had by now ac-
quired fashionable clothes. The‘ doctor
would sometimes take her driving in the
late afternoons and often they dined to-
gether. As they sat in the restaurant, men
constantly turned to admire her loveli-
ness.
Returning to her father every eve-
ning, Juliette told glowing stories of her
new life. “The doctor is a very nice man
and very kind to me, and he is teaching
me very fast. He hypnotizes me and asks
me what I see. Sometimes I see great
palm trees, and the swamps and bayous,
and beyond them the blue ocean. We're
trying to find the treasure and the doctor
thinks we may already. have located it.
He’s going to Barataria himself to search
at the place I told him I saw.”
Dr. Deschamps did leave New Orleans
for Barataria and was gone for about two
weeks, This posed problems again for
Jules Deitsch. Though his daughter re-
mained the picture of doll-like innocence,
he noticed that she now glanced with a
livély interest at half the men she
saw.
Then one day while the doctor was still
away, Deitsch returned home from work
to find Juliette on the parlor sofa in the
arms of a total stranger to him—a well-
dressed, rather shy-looking man of about
30. She introduced him as Charles
Francois.
When Francois had left, she explained:
“He’s a jeweler, Daddy, and quite
wealthy. The doctor bought me'a neck-
lace at his shop. I met him on the way
home from school the other day, and he
took me riding in his carriage. Today he
told me he wants to marry me.”
“You're far too young to think about
marriage,” Deitsch retorted. “You just
keep on helping the doctor and maybe
he'll make us all wealthy.”
“All right, Daddy,” Juliette agreed.
However, Francois continued to visit
the Deitsch home, and there were also
other admirers. Amongst them a hand-
some, strongly built young fellow named
Anthony McCarthy. He was a neighbor-
hood boy with a reputation as a loafer
‘and small-time gambler.
_ However; when Deschamps returned,
Juliette once again had little time for
others. But the doctor had not located the
pirate treasure. Apparently there had
been an error in their calculations. The
afternoon he returned he and Juliette
spent several hours in his office.
Throughout the summer of 1888, Juli-
ette came faithfully to the doctor’s office
every afternoon. Then in the fall, the doc-
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ad 77
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2ist day of
M. KLEIN
She admitted that Juliette had made her
promise to tell no one what she had seen,,
and said she had kept her promise. She
said she herself had heard her father
threaten to kill any man who molested
Juliette. She said that Juliette’s fiance,
though a shy man, was of a jealous na-
ture and subject to flares of temper.
By this time, Coroner Lemonnier had
finished his examination of the body. He
confirmed that death was the result of an
overdose of chloroform. He then gave
it as his opinion that the girl had been on
intimate terms with a man over a jong
period of time. There were also bruises on
her body and other indications that she
had been subjected to unnatural and
violent practices. He said he believed also
that she was pregnant, but could not be
certain until the autopsy.
During the early evening, Anthony Mc-
Carthy and Charles Francois were both
brought in for questioning. McCarthy
was able to convince Luzenberg that he
had been at the racetrack the entire after-
noon and it would have been impossible
for him to have committed the crime. He
was quickly released.
Francois, who appeared deeply shaken,
had no such alibi. He said he had been
alone in his jewelry shop that afternoon
until about 4. He had then closed the shop
briefly and gone to a cafe on a nearby
backstreet, where he had sat alone with
a cup of coffee, reading his paper. He did
not remember seeing anyone he knew and
was not certain that the waiter would re-
member him.
He denied having been near St. Peter
Street. Told of the relationship between
his fiancee and the doctor, he appeared
incredulous.
“But he was an old man,” he protested.
“She told me he was like a father to her.
It never occurred to me that anything
was going on. Why. that man is a mon-
ster!”
“Suppose you'd found out about them,”
the district attorney asked. “What would
you have done?”
“T don't know. I suppose I'd have been
furious.”
“We think that perhaps you did find
out,” Luzenberg said, “either from
Lauretta or Juliette, herself. You came
here at 4 to see for yourself and found
them together, with Juliette under the
influence of cholorform. You attacked the
doctor with his scalpel. Thinking him
dead, you finished the job by giving more
chloroform to Juliette. Isn’t that what
happened?”
“No. I wasn't here at all today. I didn’t
even know about it until the policeman
came for me.”
Luzenberg had merely. wanted to see
what effect the charges would have on
Francois, knowing. that he could prove
none of them. Nevertheless he ordered /*
Francois held. “4
Later that evening, a report was re-
ceived that Desci.amps had regained con-
sciousness. The district attorney an
Captain Journee went at once to the hos-
pital.
Dr. Deschamps, his chest swathed in
bandages, lay breathing heavily. When
told of the sister’s testimony, he ad-
mitted having been intimate with Juliette
Deitsch since the first day she had come
to his office alone. He insisted, though,
that there had been men in her life before
him. He denied knowing exactly how she
had died.
“We were in the bedroom together,”
he said, “and I had put her under chloro-
form. She was trying to say where the
treasure was buried. For three days she
had seen the same spot—a hidden cove.
‘At last she saw very clearly where it was
and was describing the place. Suddenly I
heard a sound behind me. Before I could
turn, a man seized me around the throat
with one arm and stabbed me with the
other. It was dark in the room. I tried to
turn and see who attacked me, but
couldn’t. I fell to the bed and must have
lost consciousness at once, because that’s
all I can remember.”
The doctor did not vary from this story,
and the investigators finally left the hos-
pital. ;
Jules Deitsch was questioned again and
it was found that it would have been pos-
sible for him to have left his work to
commit the crime. But he consistently
denied having known of his daughter’s
relationship with the doctor , and still
seemed not to believe that, it had existed.
“Juliette always spoke of how kind he
was to her,” he insisted. “I, too, found him
a kindly man, and I trusted him com-
pletely.”
Luzenberg did not consider him a
serious suspect.
As the night wore on, the district at-
torney realized that they were making
poor headway with the case. As he saw it,
there were three possibilities :
1. Charles Francois, learning of or sus-
pecting his fiancee’s relationship with the
doctor, had found them under compromis-
ing circumstances and attempted to kill
them both, succeeding in Juliette’s case.
2. In spite of his story of an attack, Dr.
Deschamps had himself killed his mistress
by deliberately administering an overdose
of chloroform—then had inflicted the
wounds on himself to divert suspicion.
There might have been good reason for
this. The girl was about to be married, and
if she were already pregnant, the truth
about their relationship would come out
and he would face public disgrace and
possible criminal action. Even if she were
not pregnant, her husband would no
doubt become aware of the relationship,
with unpleasant results.
3. A remote and rather romantic pos-
sibility was that someone—perhaps a per-
son as yet unknown—had taken seriously
the doctor’s attempt to locate the pirate
treasure. Entering the office and hearing
the girl describe the place where it was
buried, the intruder might have attempted
to kill them both so as to sieze the
treasure himself.
The following morning, New Orle-
ans newspapers gave wide publicity to the
Deschamps story. The doctor was quite
a prominent figure, particularly in the
French quarter, where many people had
seen him with the doll-faced beauty and
had wondered about their relationship.
Tord of the coroner's findings spread
about the city in whispers, and the case
quickly became one of the most sensa-
tional in New Orleans-history up to that
time.
As the morning wore on, thousands of
persons crowded through St. Peter Street
to gaze at the house where such shock-
ing goings-on had resulted in murder. In-
_ side the house, Luzenberg, Journee and
the other officials continued their labors.
They made no further headway until
around noon. Then there came a develop-
ment of great importance.
Mrs. Hilroy, who had been in the doc-
tor’s office many times, remembered
about the small glass case in which the
doctor kept instruments and medicines.
“He always kept it locked,” she told
them. “I used.to see him unlock it to take
something out. He used a key on a chain
attached to his belt, and would im-
mediately lock the case again. He said
that since some of his patients were
inentally disturbed, he made it a firm
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76 >.
At the end of a month, however, Mrs.
Hilroy began to feel stirrings of doubt
about her new tenant. These had todo
with the patients who came to visit him
in ever-increasing numbers. Nearly all,
she noticed, were women. Most of them
were young and very attractive women.
The odd thing was that none of them
looked sick. At least when they arrived,
they didn’t. But several times when her
door was open, she had noticed female
patients coming down the stairs after a
visit to the doctor. There had been a
strange’ pallor in their faces, and they had
seemed to stagger slightly.
Mrs. Hilroy was sternly religious, and
dark thoughts began to enter her mind.
Just what went on in the office upstairs,
she wondered. For that matter, what was
magnetic physiology? If it was what she
thought it might be, she’d see that the
doctor was out of her house in short
order.
One day as she was sweeping her
doorstep, a couple stopped before the door
and she recognized the girl, a pretty,
wasp-waisted young blonde, as one of the
doctor’s patients.
“Delicia, you know -I don’t like your
visits to Dr. Deschamps,” the young man
was saying. “There’s something about
that man I simply don’t trust, and I wish
you'd give him up.”
She looked at him with wide blue eyes.
“But, darling, he’s done wonders for me.
I always feel so good after my visits to
him.”
“Still, as your future husband, I disap-
prove. Hypnotism indeed! I think the
man’s a charlatan and a fraud.”
“Well, you can think what you like,”
she retorted. “He’s a gentle, sympathetic
man who understands a girl’s troubles
much better than you do, and I have no
intention of giving him up!”
She turned and stomped into the house.
Mrs. Hilroy decided that this was a
time for action. As soon as she heard the
door-of the third-floor office close behind
the girl, she crept quietly up the stairs
and peered through the keyhole. She
could hear the girl and the doctor talking’
in a soft tone, but could see neither of
them. -
Then suddenly she gave a gasp of
shocked astonishment. Across a chair in
her line of vision, a girl’s white shirtwaist
was flung. Then a skirt. Then petticoats,
* one after another.
Mrs. Hilroy fled down the stairs, her ,
cheeks burning. She waited grimly for
nearly an hour, until through the open
crack of her door she could see Delicia,
fully attired again, weaving her way un-
steadily down the stairs, a rapt gaze in
her large blue eyes.
- The moment she was*gone, Mrs. Hil-
roy stormed up and knocked on the doc-
tor’s door.
It. was opened promptly, and the hand-
‘some doctor, i a neat white surgeon’s
jacket, greeted her gravely, “Please come
in, Mrs. Hilroy. Your visit is an unex-
pected pleasure.”
“I demand to know what’s going on in
this office,” she said flatly.
“Going on?” He regarded her blandly, -
meanwhile putting a bottle of liquid and
some surgical instruments into a small
glass cabinet, which he carefully locked
with a key on his key chain, “]’m afraid
I don’t understand.”
Mrs. Hilroy decided not to reveal her
keyhole-peeping. “That girl who just left
here looked to be under the influence of
drugs,” she said severely. “I won’t have
any such shady practices going on in my
house. Just what is the magnetic phys-
iology of yours?”
The doctor drew himself up stiffly. “My
good woman, the science of magnetic
physiology, as developed at the Sorbonne,
is widely practiced throughout Europe. |
am its leading practitioner in this country.
By means of it, I have helped scores of
persons find their realization.”
“How does it happen that they’re all
young women—and pretty ones, too?”
“My patients are not all women. I have
had many men patients. But the nature
of magnetic physiology is such that
women, particularly emotionally dis-
turbed young women, derive great bene-
fit from it.”
He went on to say that he had studied
with the brilliant young Austrian psy-
chiatrist, Sigmund Freud. But where
Freud believed in curing mental ills
through mental therapy, his own school
sought mental health through a physical
approach,
“The therapy is conducted while the
patient is under the influence of hypno-
sis,”",he went on, gently stroking his trim
gray beard. “In this state, the mind is
pliable. It is receptive to the changes
made possible by the physical treatment.
I have gained some astonishing results.
Take the young woman who just left
here—a highly nervous, emotional crea-
ture. When she came to me, she was on
the verge of melancholia. My treatments
have given her mental health and peace.”
But the young woman had been a stub-
born case and had resisted hypnosis, the
doctor said. “In such cases, I rely on a
mild dosage of chloroform—a method
widely used in Europe. Under chloroform
she responded amazingly to the physical
therapy. The only difficulty is that chloro-
form often produces after-effects—a
slight dizziness and other symptoms. But
‘they wear off quickly.”
The doctor was vague when asked ex-
actly what the therapy consisted of. “It’s
chiefly a matter of nerve endings—it is
far too technical for the layman to under-
stand. The hands must be trained for it.”
The doctor exhibited his hands, which
were long and graceful, with delicate,
tapering fingers. “But perhaps you would
like a demonstration of magnetic physi-
ology, Mrs. Hilroy.”
“Oh, no thank you,” she declined, as
she left hastily.
By the fall of 1887, Deschamps had be-
come so widely known in the city that he
was forced to turn away patients. Mrs.
Hilroy felt more than ever that she had
misjudged him. Though most of the
patients who. came were still young
women, she noticed a few older women
and several men, apparently wealthy men.
Among those attracted by the little
pink cards was a man named Jules
Deitsch, who like the doctor was a recent
immigrant from Paris. Deitsch, a carpen-
ter of limited means, had recently been
deserted by his wife, who had left him for
another man, A rather gullible man of lit-
tle education, he had found the rearing of
iy two teen-aged daughters too much for
im.
Visiting Deschamps one evening, he
laid his problem before the doctor.
“Juliette and -Lauretta are pupils at
Mrs. Roux’s finishing school, just down
the street from here,” he said in a sad
voice. “Well, their mother—she was a
very pretty woman, but she had a wild
streak and always went with other men.
Now I worry about my girls because
when they come home from school every
day, there’s no one home to watch over
them. Lauretta is still young. But Juliette
‘is nearly seventeen. When she is older I
want her to marry some fine young man
and settle down. But now I worry be-
cause she is getti
Yesterday I fou
kissing the butch
“And what do y
man?” Descham}
“You are a mai
dom. You have
minds. Talk with
her so she does
mother.”
The doctor str
fully. “Such a thi
said. “But I have
“But you needn
her. She could dr
school and you c¢
little. Then she
home from work
trouble. You are
have no one else
makes trouble {:
can get her mar?
him.”
“Tam not rum
man. It is out of
sir.”
“But I have br
Deitsch pleaded.
side, so I could e
When you see }
my problem.”
He turned and
Deitsch entered
She was a girl
youth, with sof
brown eyes set
doll-like beauty.
she was wearin
womanly develo
vaceous figure. .
the doctor, the
sudden surprise<
Dr. Descham;
her. apd said:
Deitsch. Your f:
about you. Wou
of mine?”
“Oh yes.” A s
of the girl’s ful
would be very !
“Hmm.” Des:
at her. Then he
Deitsch.
“You are a
said. “As it hay
ests besides m)
mind, and I hay
powers are stea
that I have de
voyance—that |
things at a dis
time. Being a
putting my abil
mineral prope
treasures—thro
“But to get
medium—I my)
when under hy
of the earth t
powers. It is w
of clairvoyance
girls. You are :
to believe in cl:
Deitsch?”
Deitsch repli
“Then I'll m:z
tion. Let me
medium. I'll ar
that she can
school. I'll kee
until you arri\
turn for her s¢
partner in my
your daughter
locate the tre
Lafitte, whicl
buried somew
of New Orlea:
Deitsch’s ro
lightedly. “Yo
COMEAUX, Joseph, black, hanged at Cameron, La,, 9-12-1903,
"JOSEPH COMEAUX, WHO POISONED A FAMILY, HANGED AT CAMERON.: Lake Charles,
La., 9-12-1903. = Joseph Comeaux was hanged at Cameron yesterday at 1:30
o'clock, The negro died with a smile on his lips and a cheerful good=-by
to the deputies,
s earch of a Bog. Mr. O'Bryan gave him a good whipping, and for five
weeks thereaf
meaux put a large amount of paris green in a rain barrel. Mrs, O'Bryan
and her little daughter, Kate, 3-years-old, afterward drank from the barrel,
and succumbed tp a vop;semt soclmess{ Mrs, O'Bryan lived six days, and
the little girl died two days afterwards, Comeaux said he was guilty,
end deserved the punishment meted out to him. He prayed fervently for
of the charge against him. John Yoakum, husband of the woman whom
Hebert assaulted, thinks that the law should have taken its course,"
DAILY PICAYUNE, New Orleans, La., Sept. 13, 1903,
Note: a James Herbeck, alias Freddie Herbeck, was commuted on 10-27-1903
according to the clemency list sent by Kim Garrett. This probably the
same as I have no record of Hebert's hanging. W. Espy.
COLLIER, Jim, black, hanged Tallulah, Louisiana, June 18, 1909.
"TALLULAH: NEGRO EXECUTED FOR THE BRUTAL MURDER OF HIS FATHER-IN-LAW:
Tallulah, La., June 18, = Jim Collier, alias Jim Colgin, after numerous
reprieves, paid the full penalty for his crime on the scaffold in front
of the Madison Parish jail here today, from which Andrew Washington was
hanged March 5, 1909, The trap was sprung at 2:69 p.m. He was pronoun-
ced dead twelve and one-half minutes later by Coroner G. U. Ogbourne and
was immediately cut down, Gs neck was broken by the fall. Collier
was very cool and collected to the end, and thanked Sheriff Sevier for
the kindness shown him. The sheriff delayed the execution until the ladt
minute allowed by the law as he had prepared on three different occasions
to proceed with the execution only to be stopped by a reprieve on the
last day, and he wanted to give the negro the full benefit of the time
limit set in the death warrant, which svecified that the execution
should be between 12 and 3 o'clock, in case another reprieve should be
granted at the last moment. Collier was to have been hansed March 5,
alongwith Washington, b ut was reprieved until April 2, then to April 23
and finally until today, Collier killed his father-in-law, John Harris,
an old negro about 60 years of age, near Delta, L-., on Aug. 15, 1908,
and was cantured th ee months later on a freight train of the Vicksburg,
Shreveport and Pacific Railroad, on which he was returnineto Delta with
the avowed purpose of killing his wife, He was arraigned and tried
during the January term of court, and the evidenve shoed that the crime
was a most brutal one, He had a slight dispute with the old negro,
and, to all appearances, had amicably settled the matter, but a few
minutes later, when he saw the old negro going peacably down the road,
he grabbedup an ax and pursued him into a corn field, where he literally
chopped him into pieces. A feature of the case is that the jury which
tried him was composed entirely of men of his own race," DALLY PICA-
YUNE, New Orleans, La., June 19, 1909,
> of each a sa ~ -
coeewovogesee?
LEE GOLERAY GRANTED REPRIETE
2 NG AT AY 23
“4
" "The Prisoner Became Emotional on Hearing the Good News
6-Asked His Attorney to Come and Soo Him Again.
q
* ps
a enmestermern— Meee eee
; ’
ih tear: telenton efter Gi o’ciock to- ing an effort tw draw his pistol at
erat he a Paul. Gempagrec-inédermed-the time he was shot ~~ CC
Sah Coteman See be heard the sov-| It was further urged in behsif of
error i.gréied him = reprieve the defandant that a the state had
meth daunery Grd, te which Coleman | introduced in ¢vridence the ¢ommis-
enh fleet, tae ited -t wes trac; and‘ wion thewing the deceased to be 0
Jbecanre a little semsténne!. Geputy shert®, that she bad raised
ts lie
Pea gd ogee
Police Jury Met in
of the
The police Jury met in regular ses-
sion this morning and among other
important matters considered by that
body was the report of the finance
committe, which was adopted by the
jury, and which will appear tn the
Officials proceding in a subsequent
(GOOD NEWS FOR THE TAXPA'
PARISH ASSESSMENT 10 Bf
ular Session this Mo
( Commitise Adopt
—
™L.
THE FORRER WEST OF $125,000.00 WAS BEEN ET
|The Apportionments for Roads. Bridges and Schools Hav.
In reased in Each Ward-—-Some Important stems
the 1908 Budget Are Shown—Caicasiou Parish
toument for putt
roads and bridges ¥
ward, for $1908 Kk
For the schools tm }
2968) $35,000.
tion of business me
ereeeereeree?
ee, $1.60
; . $1.60
ir Holder, Spoon
aeveoseeeeones
se oeee reer ere ee
A a Oe Me ed
Paes etedanoers eeee
woh, 750, 5c, 35e, Ie,
eee
eeecoeceeseoeoorsrer
See ereee
eevesteresree &
wees eosreraceeer er?
“330, 30; M20 ;
Oi 5 sg daisies ¥ . 15¢
.d 6 saucers, in nicely .
, ; 25
+h $2.00, $1.75..... $1.50
Dene et eres pied:
rticle, beautiful Christmas
dggilies oc cules BTS $1.65
Nile weiks 3s secces ees $2.90
reer . $1.50
ert =. $2.65
re ee ee
ar a ee a ee ee
a
Went eer ec
We 0... eee eee
dsc Se : ‘
$L__BERERESERESES
emniecedl ose
———
BONGRESS OPENS 9 =o ce
| RST SESSION
a
ae
whth the geverver ever the long die-| bad retuntd to permit the datendaat]
tahfi ghag hie attorneys would
Ie
3
A
postions
E
E :
i
*
i
hs
i
"85
, to show that the decesseed Shumake
ir. Sompay-| was a dangerous man and an oppres-
to eomnt hack wad eee bin, and sive officer.
The supreme court refused to
dons for a commutation of sentence,
. | orging:
ist. That the rulings of the sv-
preme court tm Coleman's case were
out of harmony with the decisions
of-the supreme eourts of neariy ev-
ery state in the union. Before the
board of pardons were presented
nemerous affidavits showing that
on the part of Coleman to take
Nfe. The board of pardons read
petitions and affidavits, heard the
A special from DeRiddér says:
The superintendent of philic
schools visited the public school hers
pect the to re
SU tuo: Stearns! seeeerpnien. st
the buflding that more room be pro-
vided. Though quite a large struc-
ture, the original design of the beiid-
ing was to provide for but atx rooms,
but up to date, readjustments have
been to provide for three additions!
rooms, there being is ali mew nine
reoms. The aaditortum te the larg-
est for échool purposes tn the parts |
being wel) sented with opera chairs
The ent demands of the tows
a “RE GCETOURTTY Chat the)
bent has grown to tes The DeKkid.
—pemter—wne-—-grnted se rect Tar
beg tried as one of the prospective
high echoois of the pariah, when adic
w take up an complete eleven years
wort, which will be sevomplinhed
wimt peer ab Tegeaired by She tonren
\~ mvdy
The witht echart work ip beort' «+
; {per cent Beur years ago the appor-
eal && presently carried on in this
[effects upon the youth of the city
Calcasteu parish in
isane of The American. ables tt to make th
The tax payers will be glad f% any in the state.
wicle dition ef The important it:
so good that \the jury} budget ig shown bel
to further reduce the Estimated parish
iii assegsment; and the tax rate ment, $24,060,006
for 1908 was fixed at six mills. milla ..... 2. ¢
It will be recalled that when the Estimated taxes tov
Present jury was elected the parish} 000,000 @ 2 mi
|
Ti
of the police jury
|
was in debt to the extent of $125,-TParish licenses _.
€60, upon which am interest of 8
per cest was being paid and the tax! Total .... 6344
rate was ten mills. The jury antic-| Less deductions fo:
ipated the action of the state legis- collection
lature and reduced the rate to 8 per
cent six month before the legislative
body of the state made that rate the Apportioned as f:
maximum. Now a further reduction | Hchools ‘
parish has during their administra-} pense, ete. .....
tion been entirely wiped out and
average amount on deposit for the Total ......
present year has been over $50,006. $. .olh,:, -tpthnat
The court house bonds have been
4 indTheSe,..0 yora
paid uid the tax rate decreased 40
The jury te stil!
may conelude its Lai
| ET mw a
oe EE OR DO. ADC — YE - LOCTRIAKA
oe | mai
Bling at New Orteans.
The following intertiew was given
ont by Lieutenant Governor Sanders
on the mucb-discussed racing situa-
thon:
“Phere can be no doubt that rac-
im Cong:
rember of the (os!
were te their seats
when the two bhonse
order. The absente
commanity, is demoralizing in its
man Meyer, who is |
|
|
tendencies, subversive of good mor-
als, and especially dangerous in ita} Dome bere by a ser:
senate Senators Fus
were present, but «
jouraed immediate)
for Senators Morga:
Alabama, who died
cena, go business w
Im the house the
bers drew practicall:
they bad during the
areas. -They ure 1
each other, between
third aisles of the
house just below th:
Most of the La
bate gettied themes’
tet Bemater McPae
ropalitan and Bena:
and state.
“Sunday racing, night racing and
racing enterprises that operate a}!
the year sre intolerable mutsances.
which ought to find go place among
ap enlightened people. >
“It behooves thoes who are inter-
ested in racing plants in New Or-
jeame and throughout the stale to
wee to tt thal the sport te conducted
upon a clean and hewest basis, that
gambling apd all other obnexiaus
features should be rigidty emluded.
and that the bestness should be car-
Tied on ws not to affend the decency
and mora) ecuse of the pespte :
“Should this wot be done, U Cochran Repreme:
be Be he doubl that the people of | SMRMANE. Wall ine
the stale vill take apendy steps to|*! Op Bigws bower
bet wi
isiaca | the pre
Vader proper comtrot and regsis piped remedy |
thom, Wh ike ObMotices features
otfminated aad the gambling testers “°'AtWe Pes eink
cut wat, pacing may comtigue to be “77 Upewis at the bh
ond of the altrectionn af New OF | MOR Bt his iw
loans ia the Winter memita but ree | Or Ste sad Yo rente
CONBLM, (CORNELIUS), Jim, black, 14, hanged Webster Pariah, Li
Ne Sek. us Neel ‘qe x A ” 9 >
Febru ry F, 1588
EXECUTION.
ng of the Negro Boy, Jim
4
Cornelius “A closs examination followed ; blood |
at tome } . Mair were tound on bis shoes. He was asked
ee ie | a pane pe there. He promptly and |
om % al : Dat his mother made b
se ~. For the Murder of Ernest Wren, a! chloken that morning. When needs it |
= “ohi¢keos had hair on them, be answered |
ee ~ “sometimes. This did not confuse hi
~~ In Minden, Webster Parish. pAy lity of inquest was held on the tsth |
: are Be ht ad (UGX ars He then told that be |
‘a a 1 xlns: He < a |
he, Murderer 14, and the Victim Mog the cows home lato that evenleg. ite
Bit | Dad no quarrei with Ero reaxrrs
Pe Less Than 5 Years Old. “kim, Ho trimmed the aplunvers off of on
ee. _— pe Uk Nghtwood knot, 60 that his hand
Bei aap bo easy; with u :
bes Mompen, La, Feb. 3.—[Special.]—At Pine 4 Dehind the child apd sleade bitin A bloanenin
. practically kitled nim; this was followed
“Grove, Webster parish, La., on Feb. 17, 1887,
Ge ‘ nd: y @ humber of blowa which crashed pis
4 Sim Correiias, colored, 14 years of age, killed ‘ )
‘ernest Wren, white, less than $ years cf ; fay aaeeeee Which aiaeres horrible
Sage. Cornelius tad been bized by Hon. G. = hair. Ho taen proceeded to tlie Hest aod
5 L. Wren, men:ber of the legistature of 2 began Ww cus Wood in the yard for ng th woe
ie ebaver pariah, nearly two wroks at tho) 5 porte Sa gor lie told where the knot, as
“time of tks xilling. Jie had proviously = pear Ly, On cunieeon Nas uuder # log
lyed with bis father and taother, foun ' , y koot was
eeaip tt ! Placed In jalt he indicated. He waa thou
neatly two miiosaway from Mr. Wren’s ond |
Vnpear German town, in Wabater parish, ie.
ad never been on Mr. Wren's place before
r $hisemplcoyment, and had never seen the
F-ohikd Rrnest.. Thoy bad been together uot
J lexoeeding ons week, There was no previous
o trouble betwedn them. -
"~ “On the evening of the 17th of February, |
‘« $ag7, the dead body of the chila Ernest was
‘found near the roadside, within 100 yards
te °
‘@t Mr; Wren’s residence: The head bad
t weoerere® intoajelly. It was found by
+ Unote Ike, an uncle of the boy Jim Cor-
“yeliaw Tne alaria was given. The boy
Jim wae near by in the yard outting wood.
ijHe was avery deep sympathizer with Mr.
““Wren’a family in their aftliotion. He was
ery ooo! and, thoagh only 14 years of age,
guggested when it was proposed to move
the body to the Louse that it should net be
- Ynoved until the coronem came and viewed
"4t. “He toen told’ how hosaw otramp run
> geress the road in that locality a sort time
~~ pPpreviotis to tho discovery of the body. This
.. Bhowed that he was the only witness in the |
- Cage. mie
ig
kr
4
CAPACI and DALLAO, hanged at Gretna, La., on May 18, 193i - Continued.
Capaci saying this or saying that. He was. always telling me what a fine fellow Capaci was
and how much he thought of him,' Capaci.admits in his confession that he visited Rabito at
the grocery store where the latter was employed about 10 asm Thursday and that he remained
in the neighborhood until Rabito left the store and started to the bank, He was standing on
a corner near the store, according to his confession, when Rabito drove by and said: 'Hello,
Johnny, you going out?! He asserts that he then got into the car and that they proceeded
to South Liberty and. Poydras Streets, where they were joined by Dallao, Capaci, in the con-
fession made public by the police, said that a month ago he went to the Davis-Mize Wholesale
Grocery to get some groceries by his mother and was accompanied by George Dallao, ' who
happened to be around-the house at that time,' At that time, according to Capaci, it was
- proposed by Dallao that they rob the place, Capaci said that he told Dallao he did not know
how the Davis=Mize grocery money was taken to the bank. About a week later, Capaci recites
in his confession, Dallao accused him of having lied on their first fivit to the store about
not knowing how the mopay was. taken to the bank, 'Dallao told me he had trailed Charles Ra-
-pito's car to the bank about 3 times,' Capaci asserts in his confession, Describing the
everts leading up to the kidnaping and killing of Rqbito, the confession signed by Capaci
gtatest 'On Thursday .morning, January 5, George Dallao came to my house about 8:30 ame and
spoke to me about pulling thisjob and he said he was going to pull this job with someone
else and he told me "You -—=-=, I will kill you if you don't show me the right man,' meaning
Charles Rabito, 'I then went down with my father and got off at Claiborne and Poydras Sts.
at the Davis-Mize place and I went in to place and spoke to John Rabito; this was about “10
asm, Llstarted to run out on this job and tell John Rabito but was frightened thinking they
might kill mee: I went out on the corner and met George Dallao, who was across the street
from Davis-Mize place, and he told me his other friend was over on Liberty Street waiting
for us. While standing on the corner waiting for Charles Rabito to come along, Charles Ra=
bito passed and he said: 'Hello, Johnny, you going out?? and I said 'Yes,' and then got into
the car with him, When I got in the car with him he was driving out Poydras Street and then
George Dallao said hello to me, Charles Rabito said: "You know this guy?! and stopped the
car and George Dallao got jnto the automobile, sitting in the back, and held a gun against
the back of Charles Rabito s head and made him turn in Liberty Ste towards the Liberty Ste
Bridge to meet his fribnd,” After driving in Liberty St. a short distance George Dallao fore
ced Charles Rabito to move over on the front seat and got at the wheel and drove himselfe
Upon reaching the Liberty St. Bridge, I mid "Where is your friend?" and he said to me "I hav
no friend and you are going with me," We drove out along a mud street alongside the ware- |
house and turned in Claiborne Avenue and up Claiborne Avenueover the bridge at Claiborne Ave
and the Protection Levee and driving up about 3 miles over the bridge and then turned into a
side road about $ block on this road, I, was pleading with George Dallao not to kill Charles
Rabito, but he took him out of the car and shot him twice, and then rushed back and goV¥into
the car. We then drove back into the highway over the Claiborne Bridge and then turned
over to the river side of the road on Claiborne Avenue’ and after going several. blocks. George
Dallao threw the gun out.of the car into the canal,. I saw a boy on the side ofthe canal —
where George Dallao threw the gun, “e then drove to thenext corner and turned in to Panola
St. and parked the automobile on Panola between Dublin and Carrollton Ave, George Dallao
took the money out of the car and when we got to Carrollton Ave, while waiting for the car
he gave me themoney, We left the, checks in the automobile and took a street car and trans=
ferred to the Claiborpe car and rode as far as, Third St. and then got out of the car and we
went to George Dallao s house wherehe gave me about $50 and kept the balance of the money
which we were to divide later on, _I then went to my mother's house and then went home to my
wife and gave her $25 of $1 bills of this money « They gun on Chief Grosch s desk I identify
“as the gun used in‘this job,! :
"Dallao relates in his confession that Capaci visited his home and asked if he ‘wanted to
make a job,' He said that he at first refused to listkn to the proposal, but that Capaci
insisted ahd explained 'that it would be easy and we could get by with if, and then I agree
to #0 with him on*this job.' He said that Capaci again visited his house about 10:30 aeme
Tuesday and that the two drove down inCapaci's car to ‘look over thejob.' 'After looking.
over the job,' Dallao says in his confession, 'we went home and we spoke of pulling this
job on Thursday, January 5, and he told me he would meet me at Claiborne Avenue and Poydras
Street on Thursday morning, January 5. I Left home about 10:30 a.m. on this morning, Jane
5, and went down to: Claiborne Avenue and Pgyrdas Street and met him across ane aiaibe alk
e Davis-Mize company warehouse. We the: -arranged how we would pull the job, and vonnny
Cartel told me to ik out Poydras St. and he would get into the car and er . gate
blocks down. I think it was at Liberty St. where I met Johnny Capac and Charles 4a ’
CAPACI and DALLAO, hanged Newtna, La,, 518-193 - Continued = Part IIT
ower of a speakeasy at 3218 Freret St. .An inspection of speakeasy resulted in a leather
hols ter for the murder weapon being found, When confronted with evidence, Dallao confessed
naming Capaci. , ,
Both indicted by Jefferson Parish Grand Jury on 1-16-1933, T-P, 1-17-1933 (2/1)
They were granted severances. TIMES-PICAYUNE, -2/10-1933 (20/6).
Testimony ended at Dallao's trial. "A purported confession by Dallao of his j
slaying was introduced without objection, and the defense called only one a Oho ake
Dallao, mother of the defendants Her testimony was limited toa descrpition of a nt
boyhood, his meager education and his recent hardships. Dalleo has a wife and two children
and has been unemployed for some time, she saides.e." TIMES-PICAYUNE, 3/22/1933 (10-3)
Dallaeo convicted with death penalty. He and his mother sat unmoved whi is wi
; ilty. while his wife wept
In his argument, Dallao's counsel pointed out that he had entered school at the age ep
and left at 1) in the third grade, TIMES-PICAWNE 3/23/1933 (1/5.)
Capaci convicted with death penalty, by jury deliberating 50 minutes, Defense attorney had
maintained that; he was 'mortally afraid of Dallao," TIMES-PICAYUNE, N, 0., )=-8-1 33 (1/3)
"Roused from sleep in the condemned row of the Orleans Parish Prison, George Dallao and;
John Capaci were removed under heavy guard to Gretna jail early Tuesday morning to await
hanging Fridaye.e.Automobiles carrying New Orleans police and Jeffersom Parish deputies armed
with rifles, revolvers, machine guns and gas Vombs flanked the First Precinct patrol wagon
in which the condemned men, handcuffed together, were taken across the river on the Jackson
Avenue ferry and to the jail where they are gcheduled to be hanged between noon and 3 PeMm,
Fridaye Dallao and Capaci were in a jovial mood Tuesday morning, They joked with Kenneth
Neu, occypant of another cell in the condemned row, befdre they left the Parish Prison,
On the way to Gretna they chatted and smoked cigarettes with members of their escort, During
the day in Gretna jail, they continued cheerful, Families of both men visited the jail
early in the afternoon and spent approximately an hour with them, They told attendants
that they still had hopes of a last-minute reprieve from Governor 0. K, Allen, Dallao and
Capaci.were awakened shortly before 5 aem, by Warden George Miller of the Parish Prison and
were informed that they were to be moved t6Gretha. Sheriff Frank Clancy of Jefferson ~
Parish, with Depse Paul Cassagne, Earl Rolling and Peter Leson waited outside the cells.
The Rev. Father George McNamara, Sho as beén spiritual counselor to the doomed men, also
was there. ‘It's pretty tough, Father,' Dallao said to him, Aroused by the sound of pre-
parations, Kenneth Neu, sentenced to hang for the mrder of Sheffield Clark, Sr., began
singing from his adjoining cell, He sang: 'It's just a Street Where Old Friends Meet,'
Before they left, Neu told jokes on how Dallao and Capaci had acted while in the condemned
row. The Latter laughede .eethe trip to Gretna was uneventful,.eArkiving at the jail,
Dallao said: 'I'll take it on the chin. '.e~TLMES=-PICAYUNE, May 15, 193k.
}
"died on gallows of Jefferson parish prison at Gretna between noon and 12:30 pm, today.
weetho fired the two shots that slew Rabito continues officially a mystery. Capaci, Fri-
day morning said Earl Sullivan of New Orleans committed the mrder, Sullivan recently died
of a wound received in a bandit foray at Shreveport,..Sheriff Jrank J, Clancy of Jefferson
Parish is firm in his beli@f that Dallao pallned the crime and slew Rabito. Dep. Sh, Paul
B. Cassagne is equally firm in the belief thact Capaci planned and committed the mrdere
They were the closest of any two living men to the two sime their arreste.edoseph Rabito,
207 Napoleon Avee, eldest brother of Charles Rabito, the slain man, witnessed the hangings
by invitation of Sheriff Clancys Rabito stood silent before the gallows, his jaw clenched,
and watched the two men who had slain’ and robbed his brother die. 'H have nothing to say,'
he told reporters, It was noon sharp, when Dallao was handcuffed by Dep. Sh, Pete (Bush)
leson and started his death march to the gallows, 12:03 pem. when the noosed was placed
around his neck, 12:05 p.m, when he dropped through the trap, and 2:08 p.m. when Dr. M, Ee
Odom, coroner of Jefferson Parish, pronounced him dead. Tt was 12:20 pm when Capaci, hand
cuffed, started for the pol ous 12:2) pm when the rope was placed about his neck, 12326
pm when the lever was pu led and 12:29 pm when Dr, Odom officially pronounced him dead,
The necks of both men were broken instantly, but the execution was gruesome beyond words
whbte a 9-foot drop and both men weighing above 200 pounds, their carotid arteries an
and they werein Charles Rabito's car, Johnny Capaci was holding a gun on Charles Rabito when
I got into the car at Liberty and Poydras Streets, After getting into the car I took the
wheel and we put Charles Rabito in the middle of us, all the while Johnny Capaci holding the
gun on Charles Rabito, I then- drove the automobile in Liberty Street, over the Liberty Street
Bridge, the back a mud street alongside of the warehouses into Magnolia St., down Magnolia
<St, to Clio St., out Clio St. into Claiborne Avenue and up Claiborne Ave, and across the
Claiborne Bridgeinto Jefferson Parish and continued up for about 3 miles, where we turned
‘into a dirt or gravel: road and drove into this road for. about 4 a block, I them stopped the
car and Johnny Capaci and Charles Rabito got out of the car, all the time Johnny Capaci holding
the gun on Charles Rabito, Capaci walked Charles Rabito into the woods and after walking a
short distance I heard two shots and 1 blew the horn for Johnny Capaci to come back so we
could get away. It was then that I noticed the money on the floor of the car in a money bag,
Johnny Capaci came running back to the car and I turned around after he got into the auto-
mobile and drove back dow thehighway and over the bridge at Claiborne Ave, and the parish
‘line, then turned over to the other side of Claiborne Ave, and, after going down about 3
blocks, Johnny Capaci threw the gun out of the car into the canal, We then turned off Clai-
borne Avge into Panola St. where, about the middle of the block, we abandoned the car, After
taking the money out of the bag, we left the checks and bags inthecar, Johnny Capiaci took
themoney and he still has it and I do not know how much we got out of the job, After leaving
the car on Panola 5t. we got into a car on Carrollton Ave, and-transferred from the Carrollton
Ave, to a Claiborne Ave, car and went down to Jackson Aves, where we got out .and separated,
and I went on home, The automatic pistol that we ased in this job is the pistol that I
bought from my brother, Salvadore, for $2 some months ago, 1 cannot understand why Johnny
Capaci killed Charles Rabito, because 1 did not understand this wild happen, for if I did I
would not have gone on this job with him,! ; E
"Anthony Dallkao, brother of George Dallao, was one of ttose held during the day as police
made the investigations which led up to the confessions, He was released after his brother
and Capaci signed the confessions, The police were aided by John Rabito, brother of the
slain man, and to protect him from pdssible violence a guard .was placed at his home, 3201 &
Yeneral Taylor Ste, Friday night. John Nabito told then that his brother was acquainted with
GéorgeDallao and that thelatter had been a customer at the wholesalegrovery house where
“John and Charles Rabito worked, Subsequmt developwients included,the identification of Dallao
as*one of the companions of Rabito in the automovile in which the latter rode to his death,
tracing of the ownership of the .32 caliber pistol believed to have been used in the killing
t6 Dallao, and the finding of an empty leather scabbard,fitting the suspected gun in a soft
' drink establishment which police said was operated by the Dallao brothers, Checking the
serial number of the gun which 2 shhoolboys said was thrown from an automobile into the
Claiborne Avene canal shortly after Rabito's death, police Friday traced its ownership to
Salvadore Dallao, 51 St. Mary St., who said he sold it for $2 to his brother George, Wit-
nesses said they saw Rabito pick a man up in his automobile near the grocery store as he
left it at 11:30 a.m, Thursday. An ‘alibi witness,' suggested by Dallao, failed to give
him an alibi for the time of the murder,.placed at about 12:30 pem. The witness aaid he ym
joined Dallao at 1:10 pm to attend a theater, although Dallao first told police he met the
man at noon, ‘Two: boys who heard shots in a field near the Airline Highway in Jefferson |
Parish after they saw the car in which Rabito was being taken for a 'ride' Identified
George Dallao Friday morning as one of the men in the car, They are Wi11iam Andrews, 16,
and Robert Brooks, 12, negro, The negro boy, after the shots, found Rabito's body and
notified Jefferson Parish polices..." TIMES_PICAYUNE, 1-7-19% (2/1) Photos of both on 2.
The following condensed from TIMES-PICAYUNE, 1/8/1933 (1/7): Investigation closed with
filing of charges against Capaci on 1/7. Dallao had been charged on 1/6, "Federal authori-
ties Saturday said that they could not explain why a 12 months! suspended sentence recalled
against Dallao on 3/4/1931, was not recalled when he completed serving a state sentence in
April of that year. 'Our records show that a detainer was placed against Dallao, but there
is no record of his having served the recalled ‘suspended sentece,'' W, H, Norman, asst,
U. S. attorney in charge of prohibitioncases said." The murder weapon had been traced from
a pawnshop through several purchasers to Salvadore "Tuddy" Dallao who told officers he had
sold it to George, his brother, George denied having ever seen gun and suggested that it
was his other brother Anthony who was then brought in for questioning, George, being oues-
tioned, sought to establish alibi of having been at movie with a friend, Frank Pate, But,
Pate said George had not arrived until l: eMey and officers checking found that Dalla
could have bear involved in murder an Lai), PoBepcd Pate up at {:10. The boys, Andrews &
Brooks, identified Dallao in lineup as one of men at murder site. Policecheck of Dallao
showed that he had been charged in connection with a bank robbery and was believed to be the
jugular veins were severed by the rope and blood covered their chests, fter Dallao's body
was taken away, jail attendants sluiced the concrete space beneath the gaklows with a. hose
before Capaci was brought out to be hanged, Both men's bodies were takeh in charge by New
Orleans undertakers to be buried by their families, -Through a moming of alternate sunshine
cand rain, the Gretna jail, seene of the first hanging since the building was constructed and
scene of the first legal hanging of a white man in Jefferson Parish history, swirled with
excitement. No gallows was built in the jail, because when it was built, Louisiana's legal
executions were held in Baton Rouge, ‘So the ancient wooden sallows that stood under the
roof of New Orleans! old Parish Prison at Tulane Ave, and Saratoga St. was reared in the rear
of thejail, between jail and garage, and a 2=story wooden framework was placed about the
giant structure, hung with tarpalins, A space 15 by hO feet was thus barred from public
VieweeeeDallao and Capaci both had asked for an oyster sandwich arid a bottle of beer at 11
p.m, ‘Thursday, lt was the last morsel passed their lips until their religious observances
were ended shortly after 8 a.m, Then both asked for grapefruit, fried eggsand coffe, which
were brought. Capaci ate while Dallao refused food, Both were offered whiskey, Dapaci
‘drank half a tumbler and Dallao-refusedessee. (after witnesses had gathered in Sheriff's
office) Presently Henry Meyers, New Orleans hangman, arrived with his rope. Ina deputy's
bedroom in the prison he greased the hempen cord with Lard, then rubbed it with lye soap,
tied the knots at either end. He was paid $100 for each hanging, baid Sheriff Clancy, Some
hundred-ofifi spectators had now crowded into the-old jail. . They drank coffee and whisky,
discussed past executions, entered the befroom where the execution was working on the rope
to "touch it for luck,"...(after devoiionals by priest):both men rose and suddent ly went to
their cell windows, talling out to the crowd below. ‘Come on} Pray for us} Don't curse
us,y' Called out Dallao, ‘Listen! called out Capaci to somebody in the rowd below, tThat's
my aunt over there, dressed in black, Ask her how my mother}s holding up,.' Again whisky
was offered both men, Capaci drank, Dallao refusing, 'Don't drink too much, John,' one of
the Sisters of Mercy asked Capaci. 'I won't,sister,' he replied, ..,Dallao started death
march, his lips moving in the response of the litany. Steadily he climbed the 20 steps
that led to the gallows, coatless, head eréct, shoulders squared, He took his place on
the trap. The hangman started to tie his ankles, ‘Wait a minute,' he asked, "lake off
my shoese' His shoes were removed. Barefooted, he stood on the sun-hot steel. e..Last
words just before trap was sprung was a watered "Goodbye! from under the hoodeceeA few
minutes later John Capaci had followed his fellow mrderer to the scaffold, He too walked
with firm step, head in air, his lips repedting the 'Litany of the Bying.' He, too, asked
that his Bhoes be removedeeeDallao and Capaci were fifth to be executed in double hangings
on that same scaffold, Funeral services for Dallao will be held at 2 p.m, today at the
undertaking parlors of Lamana-Panno-Fallo, Inc., ‘with interment in Metarie Cemetery. Final
rites for Capaci have been tentatively get for this afternoon at the Pat J, McMahon-Coburn
Funeral home." TIMES-PICAYUNE, New Orleans, La,, May 19, :193 (1/2) Photos on page 9 of
Capaci and Dellao with Sheriff Clancy; of crowd payhered outside jail; and of Rabito's bro-
ther arriving for execution, — g :
: Sent
Pierre Derbanne. Degout had experienced difficulty in
keeping living quarters in the frontier post, and Derbanne
had permitted him to make a bed and keep his tools, “for
two or three days,” on the Derbanne gallery. Belligerent
from too much wine and sulking over his words with
Crete, Degout seized one of his tools, a chisel, hid it in his
clothes, and returned to the party.
“Still no wine?” Degout was asked upon his return.
“Of course not,” jibed a newcomer to the party. “We
passed him as we came in and he was not even going in
the right direction.” Degout bridled, “Do you want to
make something out of it, you meddler?”, and the new-
comer, himself a tough voyageur, replied “Yes.” A slender
blade flashed in the sunlight. Degout turned on the
voyageur, and his arm was raised to strike when
Derbanne verbally shamed him into submission.
Scowling, Degout retreated from the room, but only
as far as the open door where Baptiste le Moine lounged
just outside. “You wretch!” le Moine reproached him.
66
You would use a weapon?” The sculptor’s arm struck out
again. This time, only Crete’s hasty intervention
prevented le Moine from tasting the chisel’s wicked blade.
As Crete wrested Degout onto a chest, le Moine tore the
sculptor’s tool from his hand. Nursing his accumulated
grudges, Degout stormed from the premises.
Back at the Derbanne’s, the sculptor did not stop at
his little corner of the porch but barged inside. Mme. Der-
banne was at home alone, except for a female slave who
was helping her fold clothes. As Degout began to ransack
her dwelling, the frightened young housewife reminded
him that her husband had already frobidden him to come
inside. The sculptor ignored her. “Tell me what you
want,” she pleaded repeatedly, “and we'll give it to you.”
Degout made no comment.
On the chest beside the open window, where Mme.
Derbanne stood with her servant, there lay a package.
Turning to open it, Degout caught a glimpse of someone
outside. “Who is there,” he demanded. “Is that you, Pierre
24
Derbanne?” “No, it is I, Crete,” came the reply. “I was told
that you were calling for me.” “Well, here’s for you,”
Degout retorted, and with another chisel in hand, the
sculptor’s arm flashed out the open window between
Marie Derbanne and her slave.
The blow struck home. Mme. Derbanne fainted, the
slave screamed at Degout, the sculptor fled, and Crete
staggered away—speechless and in shock. The wound was
a fatal one. Crete’s young bride, eight months with child,
was soon a widow.
The sculptor did not escape justice. He had
threatened murder before at Natchitoches—two or three
local habitants and “a snotty official” had earned his ire in
days passed, and Degout had boasted that he could kill
them and escape across the Spanish border. His boast
proved idle. Apprehended shortly after the murder,
Degout was taken to New Orleans for trial. The arrest was
not a new experience to him; the Parisian had already
been branded with the fleur de lis of France for crimes
committed before his deportation to the colonies. A false
indictment it was, Degout maintained, and this present
case was clearly self-defense—but his testimony was not
believed.
On February 1, 1766, the Superior Council of
Louisiana condemned Degout to be paraded to the main
entrance of the parish church of the provincial capital,
barefooted, gowned, with a rope around his neck and a
two-pound flaming wax torch in his hands. On the cart
that carried him through the streets should be
emblazoned “Murderer and Assassin.” There, on his knees
before the church, the felon must beg the forgiveness of
his God.
But mere repentance was not sufficient reparation for
such a crime as that which Degout committed. From the
church he would be led to the public square where a
scaffold would be erected—and on it would be mounted
that dreaded instrument of torture, the wheel. With his
arms, legs, and back broken, and his face toward Heaven,
29
Degout would remain on the wheel until the Angel of
Death finally claimed him.
Justice was swift in colonial Louisiana. Degout was
executed that same day. But an amended sentence, made
shortly before the execution, forbade the torture. Instead
it was decreed that the sculptor would be given a blow to
his head, then strangled. This was the sentence that was
imposed.
Michel Degout left no relatives at Natchitoches to
mourn his death. Pierre Crete left a widow, who did not
long remain so, and.a posthumous daughter from whom
descend numerous modern residents of central Louisiana.
Many of the Lacaze, Gallien, Anty, Derbanne, Vercher,
Brosset, Spillman, Melancon, Rachal, and Thomassee
families of today trace their heritage back to colonial
Natchitoches to the young Canadian whose marriage and
career were cut short by the thrust of a sculptor’s chisel.
MAJOR SOURCES: Succession of Pierre Crete and Inquiry into .
His Murder, Natchitoches Parish Records (Office of the Clerk of
Court, Natchitoches), General Conveyance Book 1, August 1,
1738-May 31, 1765, unnumbered document following No. 458;
“Cabiido Archives; Case No. 4” Louisiana Historical Quarterly,
Ili, (July 1920), 294-310; Elizabeth Shown Mills, “Tableau of
Distribution Among the Heirs of Widow Louis Anty,” Louisiana
Genealogical Register, XXII (June 1975), 122-125.
The Huntsman
For ten years Francois Morvant was a wanted man.
In sudden, sadistic sport the fates that once had led this
young chasseur had turned upon him. Against his will,
they had made Morvant their illegal tool of justice and
then drove him into flight. With one sudden and illfated
stroke of destiny, the hunter had become the hunted.
Not many seasons had passed since Morvant had left
his native New Orleans. He had learned a respectable
trade there, but this restless Creole had been discontent.
While he spent his long days hammering, forging,
molding steel and wood into deadly tools, he envied the
bolder men who used his weapons in their wilderness
adventures. Inevitably, the day came when young Mor-
vant armed himself with his own weapons and left the
city behind.
The distant outpost of Natchitoches was a mecca for
those who worshipped adventure, license, and oppor-
tunity. It was a well-known base of operations for wily
traders who made fortunes and friends among the Indians
‘and for fearless chasseurs who needed supplies for their
hunts. There on the frontier of Louisiana, the young Mor-
vant fell in with men more bold than any he ever had
known, and soon he learned their ways.
In time, Morvant’s adventures led him to the country
of the Arkansas, the notorious asylum of those who fled
from civil authorities and betrayed husbands. In time, too,
he became a liege of that region’s outlaw king, Brim
d’Amour—but Morvant was not a trusted vassal. His
despotic leader teased him, abused him, and threatened
him, and the young hunter was no match for this
backwoods despot of Herculean strength. More than once,
Morvant had escaped death at his leader’s hands only
27
te
!
45
Girt,
Wa. 3,No 3
MICHEL DEGOUT, executed for mirder at New Orleans
on February 1, 1766,
THE LOUISIANA
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
July, 1920
Eotered to the second class mail matter June 6, 1917, ac the post-office at New Orleans, La.,
under Act ot August 24, 1912.
Subscription $2.00 per annum, payable in advance. Address, Louisiana Historical Quarterly,
Cabildo, New Orleans, La.
#
Ramires-Jones Printing Co.
Baton Rouge, La.
UVQIFT
a ¢
i*3
s
%
294 The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
dans le Cimetiere Suivant le Rite de Leglise, et Mondit Sr de La-
pommeray Cite devant Vous le Conseil de notre Roy tres chrétien,
et feres justice. A la Nouvelle Orléans Le quatorzieme juin mil sept
cent trente huit.
I’. Marhias Curé Vic. Général,
Soit partye appellé aux fins de la présente Reqte Et cependant
ordonnant que le corps de la d négresse sera exhumé pour etre trans
porte dans le cimetiere de Cette ville Ce 14 juin 1728.
Lan mil sept cent trente huit Et le dix huite jour de juin en verty
de Lordonnance cydessus le Rev. P. Mathias Curé de la Nelle Orléans
It Vicaire Général de Monseigneur Levesque de Quebec Jay, Marin
Lenormand huissier au Conseil Supérieur étant a la Nelle Orleans |
OU ew e's le Sis... dela Pommeray, Trésorier de la Marine,
- ala Nelle Orléans... . a comparoir au premier jour en la
Chambre du Conseil Supérieur ala pr .
pends Et Luy ay Laissé Coppie tant de la Reqte que du _présent
Iexploit dont acte.
Lenormand. f
Vu la présente requeste Jerequiers Pour Leroy que le sieur
Loquet de la pommeraye soit condamné en trente livres damande
applicable alentouragedu cimetiere de cette paroisse quilluy soit fait
deffenses de récidive en pareille contravention. A ]q Nouvelle
Orléans, le cinquieme Juillet mil sept cent trente huit.
Fleuriau,
Case No. 4
Michel Degout Charged With Murder
This record presents a fine example of the method of procedure
in criminal cases near the close of the French Regime. As will
- . Et procéder, sur Et’ 4
aux fins de la Reqte Circonstances Et Dépendances Et... . dé.
presently be shown it is in literal accord with the French continental a ;
practice under the Ordinance of Octoker, 1670.
The case is presented in two phases.
The first is equivalent to ‘
our modern preliminary examination before a committing magistrate, 24
but it differs in its results for, the testimony here taken is the record |
on which the accused was tried, with an exception presently to be
noted. Tl
Council. ‘4
toches, Lou
Miche!
first: name
Superior Ci
November,
gate and ri
investigatio
dered in Ne’
members.
with a mult
sentence. |
modified the
The rec
It appears t’
ence of the :
Orleans. T):
a caption o1
investigatin:
several witnc
by question:
®as conduct:
there being :
cution or the
Fach de
under oath i
meaning the
of exclusion |
subpoena) fri
that the dep
end that he i
mlary) to wh
cose the ph:
the officer en
prescribed by
whole is then
the Court.
The com
witnesses who
tm that isolat:
trainer of pai
Berd t._e if
S he Vo TAG 5 ne VS 1 FOC
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eee Fe
DIAL, William, and LARGE, Charles, blacks, hanged at Lake Charles, La,, = 9=)-1891
ia THEIR CRIME
"The crimee.ewas peculiarly atrocious, On the night of Dec,. 7, 1890, Charley Large and
William Dialxleft New Iberia, La., where they and their parents lived, taking a west bound
freight train as fugitives, avoiding arrest for beating a colored woman, Stopping at Lake
Charles, they there, the next night, stole some clothing from a railroad caboose car, and the
same night stole a ride on a freight train to Orange, Tex. Finding a trunk there, at the de-
pot, they carried it a short distance away, broke it open, and finding it contained only a
lady's wearing apparel, they left its contents there, Remaining there two days, on the night
of December 10 they went to the Orange depot, intending to take a freight train for New Or-
leans, but finding a colored woman there named Emma Gattison, with a colored man, who was
merely to see her get on the train, and hearing her say she was going to New Iberia, La,
they said they were going there too, Her.escort then remarked that .they could see her get
on the train, and-he went back up town, As the train wasnot due.for some time, Large and
Dial induced the woman to go with them to the railroad round house, a considerable distance
-from the depot, where Large robbed her of $5, all the money she.had, and which included $1
which Large had given her, As she was then unable to pay her fare to New Iberia, she left
them, exclaiming loudly she wuld have them arrested, Dial then proposed to Large to kill
her, They picked up some lahge stones, fallen.from a gravel train, with one of which Dial
knocked her down by a blow on the back of the head, .Large then struck her on the head and
body with the stone he had picked up and they choked her to death then threw the body into a
bayou or creek hgarby, returned to their boarding house and stayed.there all night, The next
day a colored man named Peter Freti, with whom they had been gambling at Orange, told them he
was going .to Opelousas, ba,, and that he had $7, On the night of December 11, Freti, Large
and Dial went to the Orange depot, Dial and Freti went from there to the round hou se, where
Dial procured an iron cmmerx car coupling pin.weighing over 5 pounds and returned with Freti
to the depot where they and Large.took several drinks, The east bound freight train arrived
and stopped and Large with his pocket knife cut the seal of one of the car doors and they
entered the car, closing the door, When the freight train reached the Louisiana side of the
Sabine River, Dial whispered.to Large to kill Freti., It was very dark in the X#KXXK car
and Large lighted a match to locate Freti's position, Freti was in a coner of the Cary
and apparently becoming suspicious said: 'Boys, what are you going to do?! Dial. replied
that they just wanted to see what was in the car, The match went out, and Dial handed the
coupling pin to Large, who went to Freti and commenced talking to him, Dial lightkd another
match, and Large felled Freti to the floor by a blow.on his head with the coupling pin.
He repeated the blows until Freti was apparently if not actually dead, and then Dial went
through.Freti's clothes, getting $2.75, a revolver and a pocket knife, He gave Large $1.50,
keeping $1.25, the revolver and knife, He then took Freti by one foot, Large taking the
other, and they dragged Freti to the car door, opened it and held Freti out of the car, head
downwards,.the train making about 35 miles an hour, They kept that position for at least 300
yards, Freti s head bumping the cross ties, and his body bounding into the HE# air at each
concussion, when they dropped the dead-body, and Large threw the coupling pin into the prai-
rie grass, where it was afterwards found by his directions, and was introduced in evidence at
the trial, : “os: : é White :
"When the train stoped at Jacksonville, the first station east of the Sabine River, Large
and Dial left the car, closed the door, and going to the rear of the train, climbed on top of
a box care A minute or two later it was discovered and was reported to, the conductor that
one of the cars had its seal broken, In anspection with a lantern showed blood on the car
floor, and dripping through it, The train then went ahead, and when nearly 24 miles west of
Lake Charles, one of the two negroes 'broke the train' by pulling out a coupling pin, thus
leaving themselves on the rear and detached part of the train, which soon stopped, The break
was soon discovered and the engineer backed the forward part of the train to where its rear
portion had stopped, There a brakeman saw Large and Dial standing on the ground, and asked
them who broke the train in two, They replied: 'Nobody, It broke itself,' It was dark and
the brakeman did not plainky see the faces of the negroes, Dial then told the brakeman that
a man had been killed or badly hurt, as he had seen him fall between the cars’ some distance
west from there. The jrain was again connected, and went on the Lake Charles, while ial
and Large walked to Lockport, about 14 miles from where they had left the train, At Lake
Charles, the conductor reported to the city marshal, and he to our sheriff, D. G. Reid, aka
MX S XK KEX AAEM SKK MM MR XACXKXAGA, the finding of blood in the car and its broken door seal at
aghsenr Asa tbe Reegang ff, "Asotstanca uith wane WP vore Gnd 1SoSCed CRY Barge BE?
Lockport and arrested him there the next morning. In the meantime Dial had gone to the
DESFARGES, » and JOHNSON, » hanged New Orleans, La,, May 25, 1820,
"The Captain (Desfargues) and First Lieutenant (Johnson) of the piratical schr,
BRAVO, were executed on the 25th of May, Fifteen of the crew were respited for
60 days, and one had been pardoned," COURIER, Charleston, SC, 6-8-1820 (2:2)
"The Captain and First Lieutenant of the BRAVO, were executed (as mentioned in
yesterday's paper) on board of one of the U. S. barges lying in the Mississippi.
Just as they reached the barge, the Captain (Desfarges) suddenly threw himself into
the stream; his arms being pinioned, he sunk to the bottom; but rising soon after
to the surface, he was again secured, He had previously expressed a wish to be
s hot, which was not granted; and it is supposed he adopted this expedient, in the
expectation that the marines would shoot him as he roses but in this he was
disappointed; and he died in the way pointed out in his sentence, COURIER,
Charleston, SC, June 9, 1820 (2:3,)
rule never to leave sharp instruments
about. He put them back and locked the
case as soon as he was through with
thein.”
This cast strong doubt on the doctor’s
story that someone had suddenly stabbed
him from behind with his scalpel. The
cabinet had been locked when the police
arrived. An attacker would have had to
get the key from the doctor, unlock and
relock the cabinet before attacking him
—a highly unlikely routine.
Then the investigators located the
chemist from whom the doctor bought
his medicines. He stated that Deschamps
had been buying chloroforn! there for
several years at the rate of a bottle every
month or so. On the afternoon of the girl’s
death, he had bought two bottles.
This indicated premeditation. Ap-
parently he had bought the large supply
to carry out the deliberate murder of
Juliette Deitsch to seal her lips. When
she was dead, he had apparently stabbed
himself to give the impression that some-
one else had attacked him and adminis-
tered the lethal dose.
Coroner Lemonnier, who had by this
time examined the victim’s vital organs,
said that the condition of the heart and
brain indicated a vast overdose of chloro-
form. The doctor had been using chloro-
form for years and surely knew its
dangers. In Lemonnier’s opinion, the
death was clearly premeditated. The
autopsy also confirmed that Juliette was
pregnant. :
As the evidence against Deschamps in-
creased, all the officials involved became
personally convinced that he was guilty.
The evidence so far was purely circum-
stantial and there were many gaps in it.
But it was thought that other evidence
would come to light and that the doctor
might be persuaded to confess.
Meanwhile, the body of Juliette Deitsch
was buried. To the astonishment of the
police, an estimated 40,000 persons at-
tempted to view the corpse. Outraged by
the lurid nature of the case, the crowd be-
gan to grow unmanageable.
The officials decided on immediate
action. Dr. Etienne Deschamps was ar-
rested and taken to jail and a coroner’s
jury named him as Juliette Deitsch’s
murderer. Arraigned before Judge Robert
H. Marr, a famous New Orleans jurist,
he pleaded not guilty. The judge set April
29 as the trial date.
In the weeks that followed, no further
evidence against Deschamps came to
light. Far from confessing, the doctor
showed great vigor in denying his guilt.
After long questioning, however, he made
a statement in which he said that he and
Juliette, realizing that their affair would
be found out, had entered into a suicide
pact.
Later that day, he was found hanging
from the bars of his cell by his belt,
which he had looped around his neck. But
his outcries quickly brought guards, who
cut him down. The investigators refused
to accept this act as evidence that he
had sincerely meant to die. They thought
it merely another attempt to create that
impression,
A few days later, he made what ap- ©
peared to be another suicide attempt: he
jumped from the top bunk in his cell,
deliberately landing on his head on the
floor. He was knocked unconscious but
suffered no serious injury.
Shortly before Deschamps.was to come
to trial, a well-known New Orleans
lawyer, James Dowling, joined the de-
fense staff. After consulting with Dowl-
ing, Deschamps abruptly repudiated his
statement of a suicide pact and stated
a
that the overdose of chloroform had been
an accident.
This maneuver worried the prosecution.
District Attorney Luzenberg realized that
in spite of the purchase of the two bottles
of chloroform, he would have tough sled-
ding to prove premeditation.
The trial finally began on May 1, 1889,
before a packed courtroom presided over
by Judge Marr. Lauretta Deitsch, dressed
in simple black, took the stand along with
the other witnesses. Lawyers for the
defense and prosecution each presented
their arguments, and on the afternoon of
May 2, the jury was charged.
After being out only 18 minutes, they
returned a verdict’ of guilty of murder in
the first degree.
The haste with which they had acted
FLASHES —_—
on BN tes. ad
STARTLING CASES —
»< THE WIDOW WHO DIED |
“TWICE (November, 1953)—Mrs.’.
Louisa Merrifield has been hanged ~
on the Strangeways Jail gallows in
“Manchester, England, for the rat-
‘poison murder of Mrs. Sarah Ann
Ricketts, her 80-year-old employer.
The case against her husband, Al-
fred, was withdrawn.
KILLERS ON THE LOOSE
(March, 1952)—Detective Nicho-
las J. Cotter, seriously wounded in
the gun battle with three federal
z psidon escapees hiding out ina New
» three-quarters disability. The fray, —
in which two convicts were killed +
_ and one captured, had cost the life |
~ of Detective Philip La Monica. 4
surprised the prosecution as much as the
defense. Luzenberg suspected that their
vote reflected their disapproval of the
Svengali-Trilby relationship’ far more
than their. considered opinion of premedi-
tated murder.
Deschamps now employed a new at-
torney, John G. McMahon, and as the
district attorney expected, McMahon ap-
pealed to the state supreme court. A new
trial was granted and the date set for
March 28, 1890.
For more than ten months, Deschamps
sat in jail. He had been permitted to have
his books, and at first he spent his time
quietly reading the French classics. But
as time passed, he grew uriruly and irri-
table. He protested particularly when two
condemned murderers, Henry Johnson
and Philip Baker, were put in the same
cell with him.
“T, a graduate of the Sorbonne and one
of the leading minds of Europe, must
share a cell with common criminals?” he
railed.
But later he became somewhat resigned
to his cellmates. :
“I will occupy my mind by educating
you,” he told them. “We shall read
Racine, Balzac, Baudelaire, Voltaire, the
great writers of France.”
His project was not particularly .suc-
cessful.
Deschamps’ second trial lasted only two
ork apartment, was retired on a ]
days, as had his first. Again he was found
guilty as charged. He was ordered by
fee Marr to be hanged on January 18,
By this time, however, his case had at-
tracted attention in legal circles through-
out the nation. Letters came pouring in
from jurists who believed Deschamps
was a victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Though some believed the girl’s death an
accident, the concensus was that Des-
champs’ preoccupation with the occult
and his aberrant amorous habits were evi-
dence of a brilliant mind that had become
deranged. They thought his lawyers had
erred in not claiming insanity and urged
a stay of execution so that a commission
of experts could pass on his mental condi-
tion,
Judge Marr, who had stood firmly
against any leniency toward the convicted
man, promptly refused the stay. But the
clamor reached such a pitch that Gover-
nor Francis T. Nicholls of Louisiana
stepped in and granted a postponement
of nearly a year—until January 3, 1892.
Informed of this action, Deschamps be-
havior in jail changed again. He began to
act like an insane man, creating constant
disturbances, insulting his jailers and fel-
low prisoners and often carrying on
imaginary conversations with the French
poets and playwrights. Several times he
tried to escape, though in such foolish
ways that he was easily caught. Once he
dived off a courtyard wall onto the pave-
ment below, again knocking himself out.
He was carried back to the jail.
But the sanity commission, studying
his past and present behavior, refused to
believe that he was or ever had been in-
sane. Another execution date was set—
April 22, 1892.
Then came the strangest happening of
all. On April 19, Judge Robert H. Marr,
whom Deschamps had considered ‘his
implacable enemy, was seen by several
persons walking near a levee of the
Mississippi River. He was never seen
again, alive or dead, and the nature of
his fate was never determined.
Presumably, he simply fell into the
water, his body eluded searchers and was
eventually washed out to sea. “But the
mysterious disappearance of the man
Deschamps hated so near the execution
date created a profound effect in New
Orleans. What strange powers did this
devil Deschamps possess that he could
strike a man to his doom from a jail cell?
To allow for an investigation, Des-
champs was again reprieved—until May
12, 1892. But by that date, no connection
had been shown between Deschamps and
Judge Marr’s death. The sanity commis-
_ sion had offered nothing further. to show
that the doctor had not been properly
sentenced. A last-minute attempt of the
French Consul at New Orleans to inter-
vene was denied.
Deschamps at last became resigned to
his fate. Still he refused to confess, even
to the priest who administered last rites.
“T did not commit murder,” he said, “and
I will not admit to it.”
The warden, afraid that the doctor
would make another escape attempt as he
was being led into the courtyard where
the gallows awaited him, ordered his
guard increased. But Dr. Etienne Des-
champs, hypnotist, amorist and learned
savant, walked calmly to the gallows. He
waited patiently. while the rope was fixed
around his neck. Then he turned to those
who were watching the hanging and said
quietly:
“Adieu.”
Twenty minutes later he was _ pro-
nounced dead. .
JETS ; eg ng MRR
BONL
best-se
novel
COM’
in this
Also in
COURAG!
"(AP) Shreveport, Las, Fed. 23, 1906-The situation here in the Coleman case is ouiet
today, quite a contrast to what it: was last night, when a mob formed in the west end
of “he Sea ar tah BP an ease Cesar Nig to stop a special train bearing soldiers
AX: : d d RAK KMRHAXHAXUXKEXHS —
from Leesville. It’is not expected that 06 wWGlence will be Sbanp ted, The trial of
the ngegroc will begin at’9 O'clock tomorrow morhing, and there will be no delays, Four
military companies which are here on duty, will act as a: guard to the negro when he is
taken to and from the courthouse. Judge Ball has issued orders that all persons must
be searched for weapons before being allowed to enter the courtroom, Governor Blanchard
will arrive at 7 o'€lock in the morning and his presence, it is believed, will keep down >
the excitement, Strong pressure will be brought to bear to have the dovesner sign the ~
death warrant for immediate execution," TIMES-DISPATOH, Richmond, ‘Vass 2211-1906 (145. )
a €
ry € oa
COLEMAN, Charles, black, hanged at Shreveport, Louisiana, on March 1, 1906,
"Shreveport, La,, February 2, 1906-Charles Coleman, the negro charged with having
assaulted and murdered Miss Margaret Lear, was convicted in the district court here
today after a trial lasting three hours, Governor Blanchard, who attended the trial,
signed the death sentence, Next Thursday, between. the hours of: 9 asm, and o DisMes
was fixed as the time of execution, A jury was secured within a comparatively short
time this morning, The evidence introduced was conclusive and a verdict was ren-
dered three minutes after the case was given to the jury and Judge T. J. Bell, who
presided, immediately passed the ddath sentence on thewnegro, Four military
groups were on guard about the court house during the trial andall persons who at-
tended were searched as they approached the building, There was no demonstration
and while feeling is still intense, it is believed the law will be allo@ed to take
its course, The military will remain until after the execution." JOURNAL, Atlanta,
Georgia, Feb. 25, 1906 (1/h.)
"Shreveport, 2=-22-A mob gathered about the jail here for the purpose of lynching the
negro, Coleman, who killed a school girl, The militia on guard dispersed the mob
without serious tbrouble, The grand jury met Wednesday to act on Coleman's case,"
JOURNAL, Atlanta, Georgia, Feb. 22, 1906 (2:6.)
"Shreveport, Feb, 20-The city is quiet today and it is not believed that any further
attempt will be made to lynch the negro Charles Coleman for his brutal murder of Miss
Lear. The presence of tpoops and armed citizens in the jail prevented an attack by
the mob and by daylight the crowd that had surrounded the prison had disappeared,
The grand jury drawi by Judge Bell last night will meet today. The prompt indictment of
Coleman is expected, Judge Bell will set an early date for the trial. Coleman slept in
a drunken stupor throughout the night in his cell, not realizing the danger he was in from
the mob, Troops will probably be kept on guard until Coleman's trial has been com-
pleted."
"Shreveport, Feb. 20 -While returning home from school, Margaret Lear, aged 15 years, was
attacked inthe public road near her home, two miles west of the city, yesterday
afternoon by a negro who attempted to criminally assault her, The young girl
screamed several times, The negro then drew his pistol, and, pressing its muzzle
against the girl's neck, fired. The girl fell unconscious to the ground, and her
assailant fled to the woods. Negroes who witnessed the act immediately gave the
alarm. Miss Lear was dying when neighbors reached the scene, and died within a few
minutes after she was removed to her home, The negro was apprehended by a posse led
by Sheriff Ward two hours after the murder in a cabin not far from the scene of the
crime, He gave his name as Charles Coleman, and has been employed in the shops of
the Kansas City Southern railway, in this city, and was at once lodged in jail,
before the crime had become generally known, As soon as it beaame known that the
black was in custody, a crowd began to gather around the jail, and at 9 o'clock
more than 1,000 men had congregated with the avowed intention of lynching the negro,
At midnight the crowd at the jail had dwindled considerably, arid an attack by a mob
is not now anticipated, One hundred armed men, composed of officers, soldiers and
private citizens, are standing guard inside the building. District Judge T. F. Boll
addressed thec rowd, making an appeal for law and order," JOURNAL, Atlanta, Gae,
February 20, 1906 (12-3.)
"(AP) Shreveport, Lae, Febe 25. = It is probable that Governor Blanchard will witness
the hanging of Charles Coleman, the negro murderer of Margaret Lear in the parish jail
here next Thursday. The hanging will take place between the hours of 11 AM and 2 PM
Governor Blanchard left today for Baton Rouge and will return to Shreveport Thursday
morning, accompanied by the Assistant Secretary of State, who will bring the State
seal with him, Immediately after the Governor's arrival here he will sign the death
warrant, Feeling having subsided the military company from Monroe, which has been here
guarding Coleman, was relieved from duty today and ordered home, leaving the city this
afternoon, Three companies are still at the jail and will be kept there until after
the hanging." THE TIMES-DISPATCH, Rychmond, Virginia, February 26, 1906 ( 34h.)
eye 1308:
DAILY AMERICAN
c on ATH EMILY (BORD OF TRADE cor
} | ESEEETeSS {) FOR LEECOLEMAN) THANKS MR, PUD) ome
?
|
Embroidered End Veils, in
the new shades worn with
the New Spring Hatse—
50c¢ to 82.75
Children’s Undermuslins
: Last Day of The Febraary Special Sale
rte to make sh
ips is enquestionsa
then‘
brisk for the last day of the month. ‘The
7, All garments made fall, and priced less
Ail crisp, new muslins, juat opened and specially priced
dozens of every garment in sizes six month and one year to 14
“and 16; every garment cut fu!) as to size. .
Henistiteched ueers made very full, sizes 0 to 12; Pair
See wees er ee ee eHaemoeweesesenees
124 and 18¢
entric, Tecked and Babroidery Trimwed; steee 0 to 14;
er ee ra ae |
Slips, made fail, “each.
eee re oreee
with Fine © Hematitching = Groups of Packs; some em-
th.. oe
ee eeee
wis Welbe weuwteeie w otee 25c and 48c
35c
49¢
tg and Short Freach Dresses at a Third Saviag
sinsook French Dresses, trimmed in fine Swiss. embroideries snd
y tucks. These dresses are on sale tomorrow as folluwa
-..++ @9c 61.75 and 82.00 Dressemst.....-.
98c $2.50, $2 75 and $3.00 Dreases at. ... 81.98 ra
ee er ewsese
hf Lingerie Undermusiizs
$4.95 =
is of French At $t:98—A table of Cambric and Nain.
‘ pane = ole aook Night Dreeses, Chemise, and
; Lace Petticoats, very attractively trimmed,
38 _- - Firts; showing many new neat ideas of em-
q AMepoky Ee broidery and lace combinations; gar-
45 with Lace ments with a regular selling value of
Pa eet $2.50 and $2.75; specially priced for
be. - 894.95 this sa'e at... a. $1.98
inarked Dove Hosiery Sales
> Lisle, Embroid-
*incy Hosiery of
a
o Lisle and Silk
d Lace Hosiery
stume; all worth
15¢ For Boys’
pair.
19¢ For Children’s 1x1 Ribbed Fast Black
“Onyx” Hosiery; 3 5c namber, double
heel and toe, very elastic.
and Girls’ Double Knee, 1x1
Ribbed, Past Biack Hose. and Boys’
Heary Ribbed Bicycle Hose; worth We a
e
oes sorieg Oates Priday aed Saturday.
New 8
few does
cam G hoe
. Shoew $2.45
worth 75c,
. . ta
3, $1.25 and
oe 81.39,
‘sae B1B8
tt
81x90 nl hy ae
40x36 Bleached PillowCases, made of good
each
42x36 Peppanil Bleache 4 Hamed Pulow
Catt worth 20c, each
canee our Bhoe Department to gndergo a
mrust go forward. T. make rvom for
to effects a clearance.
Staple Speciais at Cut Prices
81x00 Bieached Hem med cangines Sheets
at... .
Bieach, one piece ‘Hea.
8c values |...
- 50e
.69e
-Llic
RRA
‘|which carries the death penalty.
=
COE TB WER FINAL REWARD
Jamas Ware Alter Briel Hines,
Neewwraay sfvernoor at ‘ e’clook |
as
ai
4% special to Alexandra Town
‘ bi Veet af Gully | rf
~ ‘Charged Last Wight =,
Coleman Unmoved by Verdict When!
Read—Trial of Joseph Rugero
fer Murder Begun.
. Atter being out lese than halt an
‘hour last night the jary im the Lee
Coleman case came into cuurt with
& verdict of guilty ae charged,
The attorneys for the deferee imme.
diately gave notice of a motion for
® Dew trial.
Both sides bad presented their
ease to the jury, and the arguments
beyan about 2:30 yesterday after-
noon. It was about 5:30 when the
jury retired to their room for delib |
eration, coming back in something
jess than halt an bour. }
When the verdict was read very,
eye in the coart room was taorned to
see how Coleman would reeeive it. |
The expression on hus face changed
very eligbtiy, sod he showed BO
@motion other than a slight frown,
materest throaghout the session, the
@ourt room being crowded each day.
The verdict was not altogether ua-
expected, alihough an agreement
wae bardiy jooked for so promptly.
This morning the Siate ve. Joseph
Ragero wae tscen up. and the es.
tre morning spent in irying to get
ajary. At Ssoos the reguiar veaire
bad been exhaasted ana tairty de
wah base jurors were ordered secured.
The kuling wih which Ragere
Sande charged w that of Ed. Gan.
‘Arsene P, Pujr,
For Wis Uatiring Labors ‘in Behalf
of Wis District
Resolutions Framed Expressive of
Their Gratituoe — Trrp to the Ca-
nal Zone Preposed.
The committee sppointed by the
board of trade to frame reeolations
exprersive of the appreciation in
whicb the people of Lake Charles
Stetson
The new up-to-date hz
the season. From the ar-
sandpoint it command:
tention. The originalit
¥
hoid ibe services of Representative
A. P. Pejohase drawn up the fol-'
bowing report:
W bereas. at ite annaal meeting. |
held Feb 14, 1907, the board of
trade instrucced this committee to
express ite deep and iasting grati«
tude and appreciation to Hon.
representative in
congrese of the eseveuito congres
#ional district, for Bis labore in be
half of the city and district, there
fore be it
Resolved, Tha: daring nie four
years’ service in the house, Hon. A.
P. Pajo, by bis Gdelity to the in.
‘vereets of bus constituents, indrvidu-
The Coleman tria! bas held great (ally and collectively, bas demos.
strated ina most stribing manoer
the vaive of the services an watiriag,
Mtelligent representative car give.
Resolved. That our pablic thanks
aredue Hon. A. FP. Pajo for us
isbore is bebalt of the walerwsy: of
hie district, all of which have re
omved use bemefit of bis attention,
sad more eepecisily are we piesesd
by the success be nas so far attained
tm forwarding the construction of the
iatercossta! camal, whieh wul be of
tmmeasearabdle benefit to the greater
part of his destrict.
ebon, sp employe of the Hedeoa |
fiiver Lamoper compeny, near Lad. i
1SglOB mearty a yeae ago. Ganehon |
e@% some companions met Ragero /
sad bis brother on the railroad!
track and some words passed Ra
| Z@PO, 18 ws alleged, opesed fire with
Se@eboigun, gilliag Gaochon and |
wounding two others. On bis first:
ual Ragero was convicted of war-
| det erthoat osp::sl papishment, bat
| (me werdict was set aside by ibe on
preme court.
The jary was completed eoon
afver dimmer and the case west to
| ural.
}
Resctwed, That whether success
fimaliy crowns gm efforw in the
| durectioe at tbe presen: session, a is
deferred upti! same foture pessicn of
congress, we are confidex tbat oar
impterests could be placed is ac more
capable, evergetic aad indefatigable
hands (bse 1m those of the Seventa
district represeztati re.
[Signed |
Witiew E. Kuxas,
Huser B Kavyx,
Laon Vivrerse
Secretary Locke of the board of
(Coatipeed on page 5.}
its limes, and its beaut
texture and finish are
work of artiste. It
*‘ picture,'’ an exampl.
excellence, with many
tmors but no rivals.
Every Ststsen Bears the Stet
We carry the Sestese|
Sek sed Derby, io off apie
$3.50 TO $7
L. REINAU
& SONS
The ea that always
Al the
‘The Palace Groce
GOOD RESOLUT!
When made te faith eve com
tery. Streegth w carry oat |
intiee ts eseen tial. tT pea mm
mv @ parte? your cersings
fed @ BANE ACCOU YT, ett
10% oF active. « seures of 5
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42 s Pie oc. t
You are weiceme «1 Yd
CHABLAS BA TIONAL BANK.
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Royal Blend
have the mttetaction of know
your tunés ere being cared f
tostitution thet ig ander °
supervision. Sete end sex
cearteww te al! t= their deal
We will receive your ema!
te as cheerfully a. the ler;
ocd wii help you we seve. *
and be kcown ty 2 geod Bani
@ dali; bereft w you
LAKE CHARLES
NATIONAL B.
bLeke Charies. La.
ELEM SEE BOERS Y.
en
PHONE 766. aon Eran
Cahn’a
eg OT PORTE WTR
Dna
hh S 338
COLEMAN, Lee, white, hanged Lake Charles, La., on January 3, 1908,
"Lake Charles, 1-3-1908-Lee H, Coleman, convicted of the murder of William Shumake,
Deputy Sheriff at De Quincey, paid the extreme penalty on the scaffold this afternoon
at 12:9, Officers and spectators alike pay a tribute to Coleman for the coolness and
courage with which he met his fate. He did not show a tremor of fear from the time of
awakening until he himself gave the signal to the Sheriff to pull the lever, Coleman
was attended in his last moments by Rev, Father Cramers, having embraced the Catholic
faith sinch his imprisonment, He shook hands in farewell with the deputies and
witnesses, the only sign of emotiohn he gave being when he said goodbye to the father
of his victim, Death was practically instantaneous, His neck was broken by the drop.
The remains were sent tonight to his old home in Texarkan for interment,
"KILLED WITHOUT WARNING,
"The crime for which Lee Coleman was doomed to die today was the killing of William
Shumake, Deputy Sheriff and Town Marshal of De Quincy on October 30, XW@&X 1906, Evi-
dence adduced at the trial showed that bitter feeling arose between the two men be-
cause of Coleman's arrest at Shumake's instance for carrying concealed weapons; that
Coleman bought the weapon with which Shumake was killed in Lake Charles the morning of
the killing; that the same evening Coleman entered the saloon where Shumkae was
seated watching a game of cards and without warning opened fire on him, killing him
instantly, Coleman took refuge in the Sabine swamps and é@luded arrest until early in
December, 1906, when he was captured by a posse. He was indicted on the 7th of Feb,
1907, far the murder of Wm. Shumake, charged to have been committed in the Parish of
Calcasieu and in the town of De Quincy. The court appointed Mr, Edwin F, Gayle and
Mr, Winston Overton to defend the eccused, The case was fixed for trial for Feb,
25, 1907, and on the night of Feb. 2); H€ friends of Coleman employed the firm of Bam-
payrae & Tosmer to assist in the defense, Coleman went to trial on Feb, 25, was
found guilty and sentenced to be hanged,
"APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.
"From the judgment sentencing Coleman to death his attorneys prosecuted an appeal
to the Supreme Court and urged for grounds of a new trial: 1) Defendant had been de-
nied the right to prove the reputation of the deceased after hischaracter had been
placed at issue by the States 2) That he in law was entitled to prove threats that
deceased had made against him by reason of the fact that the deceased, according to
the testimony of the man nearest to him and KKK that of K@MKMAN was making an effort
to draw his pistol at the time he was shot, It was further urged in behalf of the
defendant that as the State had introduced in evidence the commission showing the
deceased to be a Deputy Sheriff, that she had raised the presumption that he was a
peaceable man, but that the District Court had refused to permit the defendant to
show that the deceased (XKMMKE (Shumake) was a dangerous man and an oppressive officer.
"APPLIED TO BOARD OF PARDONS,
"The Supreme Court refused togrant a new trial and Coleman's attorney, #X without
compensation and defraying all expenses themsel¥es, appliked to the Board of Pardons |
for a commutation of the sentence, urging first that the ruling of the Supreme Court
in Coleman s case was out of harmony with the devisions of the Supreme Courts of nearly
everu State in the Union, Before the Board of Pardons were presented numerous affi-
NEWS, Galveston, TX, 1-l-1908 (2=3~) Headlines
As Vs ae SH Co pt he 2 JS 3 wih /- /9é
qwnwrrcden Jj tette Shot ‘ae Poa ore (ustecg a
hntroruA bigrly fpurretn,
ray Casper Miva," Seubuere dustice, toy “Linda Kafr
mere formality, a legal rubber-stamping of the blood- justice
demanded by the white community for a crime af "“intentian"
committed by a black against a white. In the case af Tobe
Stevens, the court simply carried out, in summary fashion, the
will of the white mob.
carry out their will. And why sheuldn’t they? Where did the
money came to fund the political campaigns of sheriffs, district
attorneys, and judges? Whose votes put these officials in power?
Whe cantrolled the city, parish, and state budgets? Whoa oawned
and operated the newspapers?’ Who wrete the laws in the first
place? Whe held the pursestrings and the power’
The perception in the white community af the purpese and the
function of the courts is neatly pointed in newspaper ceaverage of
another Calcasi@u crime: George Catton, a retarded seventeen-
year~-old black youth, was convicted of raping a white housewi fe
and sentenced to death for his crime. According ta the reporter
whe covered the trial for the LAKE CHARLES AMERICAN PRESS, "Only
, the feeling that his case would be dealt with quickly and
summarily . . . prevented a lynching bee at the time the crime
was committed." The reperter concludes, "it speaks a good deal
for the regard in which the law is held in Calcasieu parish that |
Cotton ever got as far as the court." True enough: it tells us
that the mob would restrain itself sa long as it was understood
that the court would carry out its will.
And sa it happened that passionate lynch law gradually gave
way entirely te the formality of cool courtroom precedure. The
as the Coordinator of the project
beok on Rideau at his invitatian.
Te saeom's )
Thanks for your help.
under Tec. IT am writing this
fe nicer e] So
CH Guha GSiissthe
Linda ee
last officially recorded lynching in Louisiana occurred in 13539,
but the appetite fer bleed-justice remained. And mast of the
blacd demanded in the name ef justice by the citizens of
Lauisiana has been the blood of black men.
Watt Espy, whe runs the Capital Funishment Fesearch Froject
in Headland, Alabama, has done extensive research on executions
—_
in Louigiana. He has been able ta confirm 8807 egal executions \ oh urhat
in the state between 1772 and 1989. Espy’s findings on the -
racial breakdown af those executions shaw that eighty percent of he
these receiving capital punishment have been been black while
fifteen percent have been white. In five percent )af the cases
the race of the executed offender is nat cantained in the state’s
records ar in ether reliable sources.
Espy acknowledges that his research may never be complete
because L25 years worth of recerds showing monetary compensation
granted to slaveowners for executed slaves are not available. He
believes that if these records can @ver be recovered, the final
tally would shew that ninety percent or more of these executed in
Louisiana have been black. Espy concludes, even absent the full
number of executed slaves, that "the death penalty in Louisiana,
as in other southern states, has been used in an almest genocidal
manner."
My own research inte capital punishment in Calcasieu
parigsh--site of Wilbert Fideau’s 1961 crime and death sentence--
generally accerds with Espy’s findings. In the twentieth century
there have been twenty executions of Calcasieu offenders.
Seventy-five percent of these killed by the state have been black
while twenty-five perc@ént have been white, figures which canfirm
the racial bias against blacks that Espy’s statistics show has
aocurred statewide throughout Louisiana’s recorded history.
However, my own resarch shows that when the figures are broken
dawn further, by race of victim as well as race of affender, the
picture that emerges of Calcasieu parish is a chilling pertrait
of two distinct justice systems: one for samer-race crimes and
another for interracial crimes.
In cases where beth the effender and the victim were members
of the same race, there has been near~parity in the
administration of the death penalty, with white~-en-white crimes
accounting for twenty-five percent of the executions and black-
an-black crimes accounting for thirty percent. The remaining
forty-five percent--nearly half the total number of Calcasieu
executioans--were performed upon black men whese victims were
white. By cantrast, not a single white life has been taken in
Calcasieu parish in the name of justice for a crime coammitted
against a black during the whole of this century.
Dees it matter that all twenty executed offenders fram
Malcasieu were tried and sentenced by all-white juries? Is it
Significant that Watt Espy, whese research ranges statewide, has
not been able te find @ven ene instance in the histeary of
Lauilgsiana’s justice system where a white has been executed for a
crime against a black’?
The case histories of these executed, bath black and white,
affer aneather insight inte the workings of the Calcasieu criminal
justice system.
10
Library of Congress Number: 79-83872
Copyright 1979
By Mrs. Thomas J. Carruth
Lafayette, Louisiana
Published by Mrs. Thomas J. Carruth
In Cooperation With
The Center for Louisiana Studies
University of Southwestern Louisiana
aan eae. 5 Late Paap
:
i 42
- when they spotted a Mississippi State
Highway Patrol car just ahead. They
flagged it down. :
A lone officer was in the machine,
and he told them he was Patrolman
Cyril J. Reichert, operating out of .
Gulfport. The two salesmen then re-
vealed what they knew about the
shooting of McSorley, their uncover-
ing of Saunders as a suspect, and the
probable route this man was- even
now taking. oes
“You: boys could be right,” Reich-
ert responded. “I’ve been receiving
reports on the car radio. One of them
just warned us that a gray Plymouth
sedan was seen heading toward.New
Opleany Follow me—we’ll. go: after
bi ae s
The two cars set out, Reichert in
the van, and soon were in hot pur-
suit of the Plymouth, now believed
to have had .about fifteen’ minutes’
headstart. Soon the pursuers. were
crossing the Rigolets bridge leading
to the Louisiana metropolis,
Just ahead was a speeding car, a-
gray phantom of a jalopy. As it swung
past the lighted roadside stands, the
outline of its rear window sticker
was visible. Meyer gave his: horn
three quick blasts as a warning to
Reichert, who was closest to the
machine. He heard the whine of -the
patrol car’s siren as it opened up.
Near the Chef Monteur, the cruiser
overtook: the Plymouth and ‘forced
it to the curb. Meyer and Parks pulled
their sedan right up behind the
cruiser and saw Reichert jump out.
Suddenly, in the bridge lights, they
spotted a tall, thin man emerging
from the Plymouth. “It looks like
Saunders, all right!” Meyer said, since
in appearance the man certainly re-
sembled. the description they had of
the Gainesville suspect.
Then the two salesmen saw some-
thing else, and their eyes widened.
The Plymouth’s driver ‘was palming .
a black revolver which he held lev-
eled at Reichert. The patrolman, to
their amazement, was tugging at his
own gun, trying to work it free..
Before he could draw, the black
revolver began spurting flame. Two
shots rang out, and a sudden groan
went up from Patrolman Reichert.
He began clawing air. Then he col-
lapsed to the roadway. .
Meyer witnessed this atrocity with
mounting rage. The armed man was
backing away from his victim ob-
livious of the fact that the two.sales-
men were just behind him...
It gave Meyer the opportunity: for
which he had been looking since he
heard: McSorley’s story. With a sud-
den oath, he sprang forward and
threw one arm around the: assailant’s
throat.
“Grab that pistol!” he yelled to
Parks. :
The other salesman was. equal to
the emergency. With rare presence of
mind, he .brought up his foot in a-
savage thrust and kicked the still-
smoking revolver from the struggling
gunman’s hand. It. twisted crazily out
of reach.
Then Parks joined Meyer in sub-
duing the criminal. Their joint effort
was manifestly successful. In a few
seconds, the gunman had been beaten
into insensibility.
They were turning their attention
to the «wounded Reichert. when a
Louisiana State Highway Patrol car
bearing jTroopers Robert L. Jones and
Norman Romaguerra pulled up. The
troopers came out with their .guns
drawn, ‘ , ;
1
‘
Meyer shouted a warning. “This
officer’s been shot!” he yelled, “and
that fellow”’—pointing to the inert.
_ figure in the roadway—‘“did it.”
‘The troopers sheathed their weap-
.ons and rushed to Reichert’s aid. The
‘Mississippi patrolman, bleeding -from
wounds in the: body, was unconscious.
Using ‘Reichert’s own car, Roma-
guerra rushed the apparently ‘dying
‘officer to Charity Hospital. where, by
an ironic twist of fate, the other vic->
tim of.the shooting, Charles McSor-
ley, was now considered out of danger.
Jones, ‘using his own car, took the
/ unconscious assailant to the Shelby
_ barracks, There, after being revived
‘and patched up by’a surgeon, he gave
his name Robert :L. Davis. of New
Braunfels, Texas. : -
“It’s not Jesse Saunders?” gasped
the incredulous Meyer and Parks to-
gether. |
“T don’t think so, boys,” said Troop-
er Jones, who had heard the story of
_their afternoon hegira in pursuit of a
phantom suspect. “But Captain Lan-
nes will know. He’s had an alarm out
for a Davis, and he’s on his way here
now.”
HEN Lannes reached the bar-
racks, he took one look at the
prisoner, “This man isn’t Robert
Davis,” he. told the troopers in the
prisoner’s presence. “He’s George A.
- Davis. Oh, he’s from New Braunfels,
all right. The sheriff there would like
him back on charges of attempted
burglary and theft of a car and a
gun. The San Antonio police would
like to see him for jumping bail. But
I’ve a hunch he’ll never be going back — ;
to either place.”
-The prisoner, thoroughly cowed
now, admitted the truth of all those
statements. He likewise confessed the
shooting of McSorley. es
. “How’d you'firid out about me from
that guy?” he demanded callously. “I
left him for dead in the woods.”
“Yeah,” rejoined Lannes. “Only he
didn’t die. He’s going to get better so
he can finger you in court. Let’s hope
your other victim fares as well.”
But. Patrolman Reichert didn’t.
Five days later, he succumbed in
Charity Hospital from loss of blood
and shock, according to Coroner C.
Grenes Cole, who performed an au-
topsy.
Atter the patrolman’s death, the
troopers relinquished their prisoner
to the New Orleans police, who
booked him on a charge of murder.
On February 13, District Attorney
. Herve Racivitch had little trouble in
obtaining a first-degree murder in-
. dictment. 2
Meyer and Parks, the two salesmen
who had turned sleuths, won the
raise of the civic authorities for their
intrepidity in overpowering an armed
slayer. Needless to say, Jesse Saun-
,ders was in no way involved in either .
assault.
Though. the salesmen made and
signed statements for Lannes, their
connection with the case wasn’t over.
‘On November 18, when George A.
Davis was brought to trial for his life
before. Judge Frank T. Echezabel’s
section of criminal.district court, they
were on hand as important witnesses
for the state. .
‘The, jurors likewise heard Charles
McSorley,, who .presented a pitiable
_ figure. Coming to court in a wheel-
_ chair because a piece of leg bone had
been removed to patch up his splin-
tered arm, the:srobbery victim un-
-hesitatingly identified Davis as the
eo who had stripped and then shot
im. ae
Three days later Racivitch, in an
impassioned plea, demanded the
death penalty for Davis. The jurors,
retiring, took only eighty minutes to
decide that the old Hebrew code of
an eye for an eye should prevail. They
_ found: the brutal slayer guilty as
charged and did not recommend
clemency. |
The gallows looms for George A.
Davis in the spring of this year, Un-
til the black hood is placed over his
head he will have ample. time to pon-
der the fruits of his criminal career.
.Then,.as with the innocent man he
blasted into eternity, his acts in this
med yeh be judged by a higher
‘court,
Note: -The name Jesse Saunders is
fictitious in order to protect an inno-
-cent man. ey
Take
—anc
being
you!
“flash
Perky
You
tive
enjoy
tailor
justly
for i:
prop
seaso!
of th
Came
to 20
SATURDAY, DEC. 31, 1921
tl,
Obermn, ta., Dec. Si.—Henry Davis.; here for trial.
alias Long Boy. paid the death pen- | _ After his conviction, his attorneys
alty here Friday for the murder of | GBRURIC | ye pyre ee prs Nese Sara from public vi
appealed
Gal! drink stand in the negro
Negro Pays on ows baer es — ar cme =
. 1a difficulty. The negro after the
for Murder of Foreman ! shooting and was captured some time
!later at Opelousas and brought back] were disappointed,
while outside the jafl. was surround-
ed by a high wall which shut it out
uarters
of execution. A number of peopl& he walked from his cell to the,
gathered from different parts of the
parish in the expectation of seeing
something of the execution, but they
as the gallows,
ew.-
Only the witnesses allowed by law
lows without assistance aad west:
his ceath without a word. ey
‘ ee
There are several species of.
strange Nttle crustacean, but
sort that give’ the salipowner
greatest trouble is the species
fastens itself by a flexible stam te
¥,
B
4
ah ie:
4
nis foreman, W. B. Henson, at a tur-j; judgment of the lower court in a re-| were present. The condemned man the.
pontine camp in tne western purticent decision handed down by Mr.| stated several days ago that he hadj| bottoms of vessels in. clustera,, —
of the parish, April 24. ‘Justice Dawkins, whereupon the Gov-' made peace with God and was ready! and necessitates the ship ng takes. >
The tragedy occurred at_a cold ernor fixed December 30th as the day to go, and when the moment came to drv dock for removal. ‘
., : pie ©
1)
QD
. - <
=> ‘ oO
[MES (CAYOMN Z_ 0
a)
.
- Ww
LAO / S
J/ALBtf 14 S
‘@
Pierre Darbanne,
ore residing, aged
he truth, and that
int nor servant of
in him, on petition
rior Council of the
the fact mentioned
f the King, which
er he entered the
h Dudoit for wine,
mLemer. Cratte
1. The latter said:
ome of it;’’ where-
ed threw the bottle
‘ne; go for another
n going’’ and pass-
laine and I.emoine,
¢ the wine and that
“Do you want to
egout immediately
ot tell what it was.
a chest. - Crette
was outside of the
ang Degout rushed
|
onard’s and
ddged. Crette fol-
1 they ran, certain
yg to see they saw
and they perceived
house. He did not
9 Crette’s and saw
imony having been
o persisted, ref used
write nor sign, in
-aring and cursing,
n ten livres. The
and he persisted in
-ccordance with the
cil. Entry.”
Cabildo Archives 303
January 2, 1766. Appeared before us, Marie Leclerc, wife of
Pierre Darbanne, residing in this post, aged
twenty-nine years or thereabouts, who, after being sworn to tell the
truth, declared that she is neither a relative, a connection nor a ser-
vant of the parties, produced a notice of appearance served on her,
on petition of the Attorney General of the King, dated as above:
Testifies on the facts mentioned in the complaint of the Attorney
General of the King to the Superior Council, which were read to her,
that on the ninth of last October, being in her house folding clothes,
Degout came in. She rose to go to him and the witness told him to
tell her what he was searching for, that they might give it to him,
and as she repeated it several times, which exasperated him, he raised
his head and pretended to search in a package which was on a chest,
and as the witness persisted in asking what he was searching for, he
looked out of the window, and, seeing some one, cried out: ‘‘Who is
there? Is it you, Pierre Darbanne?—and having repeated it twice,
Cratte, who was on the outside, leaning against the window, only
half of his body being visible, answered: ‘‘It is I, Cratte.” Degout,
then extended his arm out of the window; without her seeing what
he had in his hand and told Cratte: ‘Well, here’s for you,’”’ and Cratte
went back without saying anything else. The witness continues
that Degout passed his arm between her and her negress, who was
against the window, when he committed the deed, which, she said,
was all that she knew; her testimony having been read to her, she
said that it was the truth and so persisted, and has declared that she
does not know how to read nor sign.
Signed: ‘‘H. Pain.”
Signed: ‘‘Henry Gardrat, Clerk of the Council.”
January 2, 1766. Also appeared Jeanne, negress belonging to
Sr. Darbanne, residing in this post, aged
thirty-two years, or thereabouts, who, after being sworn to tell the
truth and that she is neither a’ relative, a connection, attendant nor
servant of the accused, produced the notice of appearance served on
her on petition of the Attorney General of the King to the Superior
Council of the province of Louisiana of this date: Testifies on the
facts mentioned in the complaint of the said Attorney General of the
King, which was read to her, that on the ninth of last October one
Degout entered the house of Sr. Darbanne, her master, that having
entered he began searching for something and that Darbanne’s wife
asked him what he was looking for, and why he had come to her
house, when he had been forbidden to come there; he answered that
hi
a.
4
4d.
4
a
ayoTT
7
Pe
a2 INY
#8 ¥
304 The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
he had come to search for something and that he was going to leave;
more closely pressed by the Darbanne lady to say what he was look: |
ing for and that she would give it to him, the said Degout pretending
to search in a package on a chest, raised his head and perceived
some one at the window. He cried out twice: ‘‘Who is there? Is tt
you Pierre Darbanne? Cratte, who was leaning on the window
which gives in the room, answered: ‘‘No, it is J, Cratte.’’—and on |
the moment Degout passed an arm between the witness and her
mistress, who stood one on each side of the window folding clothes, say
ing: ‘Well, here’s for you.’ Cratte fled without speaking, and &
immediately the witness and her mistress said: ‘‘What have you done,
wretch?”,—and Madame Darbanne swooned and Degout opened am §
other window and left without a word, which, she said, was all she &
knew; her testimony having been read to her, she said it was trué
and so persisted, and declared not to know how to write nor sign, all
of which is in accordance with the ordinance.
Signed: ‘‘H. Pain.”
Signed: ‘Henry Gardrat.”’
Whereupon, we, above mentioned Judge, considering the noto ©
rious absence of said Lemer and Laplaine, voyageurs, who have nd”
their domicile in this post, have held them in default, and have of
dered and do order that the said Marie Leclerc, wife of Darbanne,
be re-examined on her testimony and confronted with the said
Degout. To this end she will go to the city, so that the whole may
be communicated to King’s officers and reported to the Supericr
Council of the province of Louisiana;—for such further proceedings
as may be necessary, conformably to the order of the ninth of last |
November.
Given in our office at Natchitoches, January second, one thousant &
seven hundred and sixty-six.
Signed: ‘‘Pain.”
Pain (repeated) Signed: “Henry Gardrat.”
SECOND HEARING
January 29, 1766.
Confronting of
Degout. missary in this case,.on petition of the Attar
ney General of the King, plaintiff and & &
cuser, and armed with the order of Sr. Pain, acting Judge in the pos
Confronting conducted by me, Charles Mant }
de Lalande Dappremont, Councillor, Com |
Ce ee bi ¥ Soa
ee | peor s 5a x ws ola Ot
of Natchitoches, against one Jean Degout, accused, detained in th ®
prisons of this city, on the testimony of one Marie LeClerc, wile d 4
one
Pain
Cou
ing v.
Jani
who
sixth
the t
the c
said
and |
lower
furni:
any,
accep
him,
stand
he
A
S
Secor
disgui
posto:
has ni
nothi::
7
testin
but t
sition
his Ow
but th
when
~ which
aid 4
tO see
entere
the sai
gave a
Ve ing to leave;
whe he was look-
egout pretending
‘ad and perceived
ois there? Is it
'g on the window
Cratte.’’-—and on
’ witness and her
ding clothes, say-
sut speaking, and
hat have you done,
Jegout opened an-
» said, was all she
said it was true,
write nor sign, all
sidering the noto-
urs, who have not
iult, and have or-
wife of Darbanne,
d with the said
cat the whole may
to the Superior
'® proceedings
the ninth of last |
ond, one thousand
ne, Charles Marin
Councillor, Com-
tion of the Attor-
plaintiff and ac-
Judge in the post
1, detained in the
LeClerc, wife of
Cabildo Archives 305
one Darbanne, who testified at the interrogation conducted jby or.
Pain, the second of the present month, in execution of the order of the
Council issued on the ninth of last November,—to{which*confront-
ing we have proceedegl as follows:
January 29, 1764. There was brought before me by the jailer
of the prisons, Jean Degout, accused, with
whom we have confronted Marie Leclerc, wife of one Darbanne,
sixth witness of the first investigation, and, after being sworn to tell
the truth and challenged to say if they knew each other, after which
the clerk of the Council read the first articles of the testimony of the
suid Marie Leclerc containing her name, age, quality and residence
and her declaration that she is neither a relative, a connection, fol-
lower nor servant of the parties and then challenged the accused to
furnish answers forthwith against the said witness if there were
any, and if there were none, and in default of which, none would be
accepted after the testimony and re-examination had been read to
him, in accordance with the ordinance which we gave him to under-
stand.
Signed: ‘‘Degout.”’
Signed: ‘‘Henry Gardrat, Clerk of the Council.”
Signed: ‘‘Delalande.”’
The accused, as a reproach, said that the said lady
was related to the deceased, that if it was not a
disguised perjury, it was perjury from fright, that she was an im-
postor and that she has given false testimony against him, that he
has no other reproaches to make and Marie Leclerc says that there is
nothing more false than what is said by the accused.
This done we read to the said accused the remainder of the
testimony, and the said lady reiterated that it contained nothing
but truth and persisted therein, and the accused said that her depo-
sition was entirely false, that when he had left Cratte’s house to enter
his own he had the tool in his hand which he was going to lay aside,
but that the said Cratte followed him and that he had barely entered
when the said Cratte came in and gave him a blow with his fist
Second, etc.
which threw him down, that this happened in the house where the
said witness was folding clothes, who because of her work was unable
to see, and the witness said that it was false, that Cratte had not
entered the house, that he was only leaning against the window when
the said Degout threw out his arm between her and her negress and
gave a blow to the said Cratte, and the said Degout maintained that
PIE le is SB LIE PRI MLE
UF
Sng:
Oss: :
CY 53
SA he see Fe
¥e bg 7 fe3 ig
#3 Pst
306 The Louisiana Historical Quarlerly
it was in the house, that they must question the said negress ant 1 4
those who had carried away the said Cratte’s body; that her test &
mony was suggested by her husband who was a miscreant, he insisted
that she cried out all through it; ‘‘Stop it, do not fight in my house,” | a
and the third time when he took his tool from his chest the negres &
_ also cried to him to stop, and he, after having given the blow, answer
that he had finished, and the witness maintained that all this wa &
false, that Cratte had not entered her house and that she had not sett | 4
them fighting together, but had only seen Degout strike one sing
blow at Cratte, from the window, with a powerful tool, which sit’ 4
believes they afterwards found on the spot; which tool was on the #
It was a sculptor’s chist §
and the said accused said that it might be his, but that he did nt §
know if it was with a chisel or a gouge or another tool that he strud #
the blow, as he was carried away by his anger and thereby ignorath #
of what tool he had taken for the deed. Another smaller chisel wa a
likewise presented to him, said to have been snatched from him at the q
beginning of his dispute with Cratte; he said that it was not takes F
from him, that he had carried it to his home, but that he had mi} x
used it in striking Cratte, because the said Cratte in giving him blow §
and jn throwing him down had caused the tool to fall from his hand #
that this is why, being thrown beside his chest, which was open, bt | %
took another tool with which he gave the blow, whilst the witness F
still maintained that Cratte had not entered the house, that he hat: q
not touched, nor beaten, nor struck him, but that the blow Ty
dealt by Degout who was inside the house, from the window, againé -
moment presented to the accused by us.
which the said Cratte was leaning.
And the said Degout maintained that all the witness’ testimony 4
was false, that her husband was a rascal who, when he saw hit,
asked him: ‘‘Why did you kill that man in my house? Why did yor
not kill him outside? You put me in trouble.’ The witness sat Fe
that it was not true and added that the said Degout did not lodge 3
in her house, but that they had given him the privilege of placings #
bed on the porch, only for two or three days during which he Was tt a
remain there, which is all they said. After reading the prestl #
confrontation the parties each maintained that his testimony was tht 7
truth and persisted therein, and the said Degout signed, Matt 7
Leclerc not being able to do so, all of which is in accordance with th 4
ordinance.
Signed:
Signed:
“Degout.”
“Delalande.”’
Signed: ‘‘Garic, Clerk of the Cound
This
prison an
and have
communi
tion and |
Signe
Signe
First of
January
Re-exam
Marie Le
Wife of |
wub-deleg:
of the C
Degout, <
amined it
place the
mid Supe
proceed i:
Whe:
Attorney
and ordei
mid Mar:
tefore Sic
wid orde:
have caus
investigat
truth wit!
The pres
and decle
was mac
griminal «
and year,
Add
the deed
Sign
Signi
~
ST.PETERSBURG TIMES 8
Death tonto
Right after I turned my switch off and my lights off and
took the pillow I had -been sitting on and put it in the
back seat, two Negroes came and held us up. They told
us not to say a word or they would kill us.”
Joe Cook, in his confession:
“We were coming out from town, and my brother
Mack said to me, ‘Let’s walk down the road.’ So we
walked down the road by the levee and we saw a car and
4 brother Mack told me, ‘Let’s take that car and take a
ride.’
“We each placed a handkerchief over our face and
we went to the car and stuck up a man and a woman in
the car. The man said, ‘What do you want to stick us up
for? We have no money.” My brother Mack said, ‘Stick
’em up anyway and we will take a ride.’ ”
Matthew Cook, in his confession:
“We both had pistols. We both put our guns on
them. My brother said, ‘Back out and take us to Krotz
Springs.’ We got in the back of the car.
“When we got down the lane apiece I told her to stop.
When I told her to stop Joe hit the man, then I hit him
once with the back part of my gun. Then my brother Joe
fired two shots. The man fell out of the car.
“I don’t think the man ever tried to fight even before
he got hit.”
Geraldine, in her statement:
_. “Then they brought me in the woods and both raped
me. After they had finished, they told me they would let
me go if I didn’t holler or make anv noise. Thev told me
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1985
problem for me getting in. They'd left everything intact.
They hadn’t moved anything.
“They had hit him in the-head. They hit him before ~
they shot him. He had fallen out of the car. His feet were
right under the running board. He was down on the
ground. He had a white shirt on, a short-sleeve shirt,
and you could see the powder burns. They had shot him
twice, in the back. His face was down. His eyes were
probably closed. I knew what I was seeing. I knew his
car, | knew how he was dressed. No question about it, it
was my brother. He was dead.
“I touched his head.”
Matthew Cook’s confession:
“We got home about two o’clock by my papa’s watch.
I slept at my mother’s house until 8 o’clock and then I
crossed the river and went to my house.”
Joe Cook’s confession:
“I got out of bed and started to my father-in-law’s
house next morning, and it started to rain. I then went
across the river Sunday night.”
From the Opelousas Daily World: ~
“The search began at once.
“Sheriff Guilbeau and deputies took charge ... a
large squad of troopers arrived ... and hundreds of
residents of the area turned out.
“Bloodhounds from the state penitentiary were
brought, and they followed a trail as far as the Texas
and Pacific Railway line, but a heavy downpour, which
obliterated footprints around the scene, hampered the
work considerably. :
“Many theories were advanced, and the Melville jail
was filled with suspects, whose testimony was being
checked.” = :
said, ‘I didn’t shoot him. My brother’s the one that shot
him.’ :
“Well, then I had togo pick up Joe. He was living ina
cabin. It might have been 9 o’clock in the morning, it
might have been 10 o’clock. I peeked through this
window, and I saw him. He had a pistol hanging on his
hip. He was asleep with all his clothes on, and he had a
shotgun lying on the bed. I called through the door that
he was under arrest, and when I did, he looked back at
his shotgun. I said, ‘Joe, don’t make a move.’ ”
John Thistlewaite: -
“I went up and talked to them in the cell. I didn’t
stay long. They talked about the whole thing. It got to
where they told their story any number of times to any
number of people, and the defense lawyers really didn’t
have much to do. 2
“The NAACP sent two attorneys down here from
New York, and they spent a fair amount of time, a
couple of hours it seems to me, up in the cell with those
that they couldn’t help. And they-left:”. ‘
Faith Fontenot, Opelousas resident:
“I remember at the trial, what was so sad was no one
wanted to have anything to do with the woman who was
there that night — because of the court testimony. Well, -
she would sit out on a bench in front of the courthouse
at recesses. She would just sit there, and no one would
talk to her. So we’d bring her coffee and donuts, and
then, when the recess was over, she’d go back inside.”
From the Daily World, Oct. 28, 1948:
“District Attorney Seth Lewis, opening the trial
before a packed courtroom, stated to the jury that the
state expects to prove:
boys. And they came down and told the district attorney
THE EXECUTION OF MATTHEW COOK: “Matthew je
Thursday for the execution Friday afternoon of Joe and
Matthew Cook, Melville Negro brothers sentenced to
die for murder, Sheriff C.J. Guilbeau said today.
“The state executioner will set up the chair ‘some-
where in the jail,’ said the sheriff. x
“Upstairs, the brothers were nibbling at a lunch of a
small steak and two fried eggs. They aren’t very hungry,
they said: 2 .
“They chatted calmly. Neither is nervous, they said.
‘Don’t eat much,’ said Joe. ‘But a man don’t eat much _
nohow when he don’t have much to do.’ Matthew
repeated the word ‘nervous’ several times and didn’t __
”
appear certain of its meaning.
“Joe had a writing pad and pencil in his hand and
said he was writing a letter. ‘Why don’t you write a letter.
to put in theapaper?’ Jailer Hargroder asked. Both men
laughed. ‘Ain’t got nothin’ to say,’ said Joe. ‘If I got
something to say, Ill write it.’
“Matthew, who has confessed to a second murder,
the slaying of an aged white man nine years ago, said
that he was not scared. ‘Guess it’s coming to me,’ he
said.” “
Joe Cook’s last letter:
“I am Joseph Cook, scheduled to die for murder, in
the electric chair Friday on the 20th of May, and I am
glad on this (day) that I have not found no favors in this
world; no, not one. *
“Now folks I beseech you all that I myself was avery
hard evildoer, doing everything but the right thing. But
why did I to do those things? Now you might say unto
me: Because you have a dirty heart, and I say you are
right. But this I'll say also. What made my heart dirty?
Was it because of good and kind treatment? Was it
hecause T was horn evil? Or was it because I loved evil
Ashebp ot
a ee Be
@ Editorials, 2-D
S Letters, 3-D
= Crossword, 6-D
EDITOR'S | NOTE: This photograph and the others that appear on Pages 4-D and 5-D were taken 36 years ago in Louisi.
Od
¢
section
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1985
sor *¥ooo »?
Sesnoleqg “oo Te "te, pg°eT4 “meuaaeW Y Ude
jana but have never before been published. We have decided to print them
Pe — ee eee - ~
EDITOR ‘S NOTE: This photograph and the others that appear on Pages 4-D and 5-D were taken 36 years ago in Louisiana but have never before been published. We have decided to print them
a eee because Florida, with more than 200 inmates on death row, continues. to lead the nation-in death sentences, and that fact makes the pictures relevant to our time. Reporter David Finkel went to
ace ] Lee: * "Louisiana and c conducted numerous interviews to reconstruct the murder case that led to thie aouble Bkécution in 1949. His report begins below. Editorial; 2-0. rr eS ae
peter ew, PRE a =o t = RAGE aS. ara e toe D ese Ridrger ec ak aa a a ee * " Stake ms .
.
4
came to the town of Opelousas,
chair. And being killed.
The series of photographs taken that day is now
being published for the first time. They are haunting in
many ways, not the least of which is the seeming
casualness of the event. Look at the expressions of the
witnesses watching death from an arm’s length away.
Look at the executioner, who could push a lever and
smoke a cigar at the same time. ;
is name was Matthew Cook. He was a 23-
year-old convicted murderer. Soon after he
was declared dead, his brother Joe, 24, was
executed in the same chair. The executions
were no big deal, maybe worth just a mention in the
papers outside Louisiana.
But what makes them noteworthy 36 years later is
that among the witnesses that day were John Thistle-
waite and Gordon Baskett, and they each had a camera.
THISTLEWAITE WAS THERE to write about
To be sure, the process of electrocution is different
now. In Florida, for instance, witnesses don’t stand
executioner. The men standing around are witnesses.
chair, clenched and sweating, is in the process of being electrocuted. ,
Already, he is unconscious; in a few minutes he will be dead.
the executions for the paper he edited, the Opelousas
Daily World. The man in charge of the executions said
he could take all of the photographs he wanted to, as
long-as he didn’t put them in his paper. So he did: the
Cooks being led into the room. Being strapped into the
Clay Bennett
Pegg ClAh DECUKITY J
around, they sit in a separate room and watch through a
window. The executioner, instead of performing his job
unmasked and inches away, stands hooded and anony-
mous behind a wall. And nowhere is there such a thing
as a portable electric chair, which is what came to
Ka
By David Finkel :
This is the way it looked on May 20, 1949, the day that legalexecution ee
La. The man with the cigar is the ~
And the man in the
Opelousas that day.
But there are still similarities. When the electricity
first hits, hands still clench into fists, fingers curl,
muscles strain, a bit of smoke comes off the body.
SO MANY YEARS later, Thistlewaite, now a
member of the Louisiana Board of Regents, still has
clear memories of all of this.
So do others, including witnesses to the executions,
relatives of the man who was murdered by the Cooks
and a woman named Geraldine, whom the Cooks chose
to spare the night they committed murder.
On a moonlit night, she watched the murder, fled to
safety, and told police what had happened. The man-
hunt was massive. The trial was swift. The appeal to the
Louisiana Supreme Court was rejected. And 10 months
home to my mother’s, and A.B. Couvillion called me and
&
s
after the murder of A.B. Couvillion, as Thistlewaite and
Baskett snapped away with their cameras, Joseph and
Matthew Cook were executed.
Geraldine’s statement to the police:
“I am 21 years old. During intermission held at'a
dance at the Buckhorn Cafe in Melville, I started to go
told me he wanted to talk to me and asked me if I would
ride around town in my car. So I told him I guess so. So
we went down by the levee. When we got to the side
road, ‘B’ asked me to park a few minutes, so we did.
Please see DEATH, 4-D
Times.
§ David Finkel is a staff writer for the St. Petersburg
I-75 section needs more capacity .
Roadway overburdened between Wildwood and Ocala
he U.S. Army in 1919 dispatched a convoy of 70
vehicles from Washington to the Pacific to show
the public how its mechanized vehicles required
good roads.
A young Army captain assigned to the expedition,
which took two months, reported that highways were
“average to nonexistent.”
Almost 40 years later, that captain, then President
Dwight D. Eisenhower, remembered the difficult trip
when he signed into law the interstate highway program.
He wrote later:
“This was one of the things that I felt deeply about,
and I made it a personal and absolute decision to see that
the nation would benefit by it.”
IKE’S INTERSTATES became this nation’s most
successful public works program. The 42,500-mile net-
work of limited-access highways, built at a cost of $94-bil-
lion, has revolutionized auto travel and commerce by
truck.
Thirty years after it was launched, the original project
is completed except for about 1,500 miles (including 1-75
across the Florida Everglades).
The system never will be finished in the true sense.
Sections wear out after about 20 years of heavy traffic, or
they need to be redesigned for larger loads.
One such section in need of attention now is on 1-75
north of Wildwood, where traffic for both the Florida
Turnpike and the Tampa Bay area is brought together
into only two northbound lanes and two southbound
lanes.
The resulting overburdened roadway between Wild-
wood and Ocala has become increasingly dangerous.
Ss
ROBERT
PITTMAN
I WROTE an editorial about the problem in March
1983 following a chain-reaction accident there in which
four persons were killed, 27 injured and 20 vehicles
destroyed.
The Department of Transportation’s latest counts of
the traffic at that time showed an annual average of
30,500 vehicles a day. Even then, deputy district highway
engineer Bill McKelvy told me, “There are times when
the traffic is there to justify three lanes.”
This year the average daily traffic count at the turn-
pike junction is 48,000.
“All the traffic counts along there fall well within the
capacity of the lanes,” said DOT spokesman Steve Liner.
“1-75 and I-95, while heavily traveled, are within what is
considered normal for interstates.” .
He said that interstates are not planned for pea
traffic, such as holiday and football weekends, but are
built to accommodate routine traffic loads.
IF IT WAS “normal” traffic that caught thousands
of motorists in an interminable traffic jam along that
Please see PITTMAN, 3-D
x
fo Ss
Springs.” We got in the back of Th CaF. ree
“When we got down the lane apiece I told her to stop.
When I told her to stop Joe hit the man, then I hit him .
once with the back part of my gun. Then my brother Joe
fired two shots. The man fell out of the car.
“I don’t think the man ever tried to fight even before
he got hit.”
Geraldine, in her statement:
“Then they brought me in the woods and both raped
me. After they had finished, they told me they would let
~ me go if I didn’t holler or make any noise. They told me
to go back and not to look back. If I did they would shoo
me.
“So I went to the nearest place I could to find help. I
went in the yard and there was a dog under the porch
and he barked at me. A lady then came to the porch and
I told her I was in trouble, that ‘B’ Couvillion had been
hurt badly. The lady was afraid to stay by herself, she
didn’t want her husband to go after help. Then they
decided to let me stay with her because most probably
the n-----s would be after me again. He left at 3 o’clock.
He took the hatchet off the safe for (us) in case we'd
need a weapon. Then he left and whenever he came back
Mr. Couvillion was with him, B’s daddy.”
Ray Couvillion, B’s brother:
“Albert Bernard is what his name was. Fresh out of
the Navy. The night he got killed, I and my brother
Kermit, we were both working the night shift, from 11 to
7 in the morning. It’s a ‘dog,’ we call it. We were both
working at a pump station in Melville. Of course they
came and told us at work what had happened. They
didn’t know too many details and so forth. They didn’t
know who it was or anything else. Z
“First we went home to see my mother and father,
and after we saw they were all right, I went on out to the
scene. Of course they had it roped off, but it was no
|
~The Search Beganvat once:
“Sheriff Guilbeau and deputies took charge . aa
large squad of troopers arrived ... and hundreds of
residents of the area turned out. i
“Bloodhounds from the state penitentiary were
brought, and they followed a trail as far as the Texas
and Pacific Railway line, but a heavy downpour, which
obliterated footprints around the scene, hampered the
work considerably.
“Many theories were advanced. and the Melville jail
was filled with suspects, whose testimony was being
checked.” TE Srecioos
Ray Couvillion:
“My first cousin vas head oi ize state police at the
time this happene/i. He just didn’t play around. He
picked up everybody. He had the railroads checked, the
buses checked, and even cars, if they were suspicious,
stopped.
“They knew when they found out who they had
killed that they were going to get caught. They told me
that in the jail.”
Joe Artall, former deputy sheriff:
“I decided I'd go talk to the girl that was with
Couvillion. And she told me her story ... about the
raping and whatnot. And some of the things she told me
kind of rang a bell toward Mack. He used to work for
me. I have a farm about two miles from where this boy —
got killed. I had many colored families on the place. And
Mack, when they'd knock off, he used to take his .
britches off ... the girl told me that with Mack, ‘I
couldn’t take it.’ That’s when I went and picked up
Mack, when she went and told me that. That was the
tip.
“It wasn't 10 minutes when I asked him the question:
‘Why did you wanna kill him?’ And he just upped and ~
. “Tremember at the trial what Way &0 saa was AS CHET
wanted to have anything to do with the woman who was
there that night — because of the court testimony. Well,
she would sit out on a bench in front of the courthouse
at recesses. She would just sit there, and no one would.
talk to her. So we'd bring her coffee and donuts, and_,
then, when the Tecess was over, she’d go back inside.”
. EER. Tt £ 4
From the Daily World, Oct. 28, 1948:
“District Attorney’ Seth Lewis, opening the trial
before a packed courtroom, stated to the jury that the
state expects to prove: =: =. . BR 2
“That the men murdered A.B. Couvillion of Melville
on the morning of July-11 in a wooded'section south of
that town in St. Landry: Parish; that the men not only
had an intent to kill but were engaged in the crimes of
aggravated rape and robbery at the time of the murder;
that armed and masked they forced Couvillion and his
woman companion to drive them from Melville down
the Krotz Springs road, then down a lane and into the
woods where they ‘proceeded to brutally club’ the man
with pistols, shoot him twice, either of which was
sufficient to cause death; that they then raped his
companion. o + Wa ;
“Defense attorneys made no opening statement.”
From the Daily World, Oct. 31,1948:
“Joseph and Matthew Cook, Negro brothers of near
Melville, were found ‘guilty as charged’ of the brutal
murder of A.B. Couvillion, 38-year-old Melville retired
naval officer, last July 11. Se
“The St. Landry Parish courtroom, which had been
crowded during the three-day trial, was packed Friday
afternoon when the 12-man jury rendered its verdict
after 30 minutes’ deliberation.” < **
From the Daily World, May 17, 1949:
“Louisiana’s portable electric. chair will arrive
_ THE EXECUTION OF JOSEPH COOK: “I was a good child u
ss
you the world hath vexed
P "JHE Cook's tasvie
“I am Joseph Cook, scheduled to die for murder in 1
am
the electric chair Friday on the 20th of May, and I
glad on this (day) that I have not found no favors in this
world; no, not one. ; Bed Bey
“Now folks I beseech you all that I myself was a very o-
hard evildoer, doing everything but the right thing. But.
why did I to do those things? Now you might say unte
me: Because you havea dirty heart, and I say you are
right. But this I'll say also. What made my heart dirty?
Was it because of good and kind treatment? Was it
because I was born evil? Or was it because I loved evil
things? oo ;
_. “I know not. : : ;
~ “For T say unto you all when I was a child ..- my
heart was just as kindly and lovely and honest as the
angels which is in heaven. For my dear old mother she
taught me my prayers every night and day, and I loved
my prayers so well that I would even say them all
through the day, and I believed in my prayers and
honored father and mother. :
“Yes this is the truth. I loved the name Jzsus so well
and the name of heaven so well that I jus* could say my
prayers and lie down and sleep and see my spirit going
straight to heaven. And not only going to heaven, but I
remember being received into heaven. ;
“Now I know some people are going to judge and say
he lying. But I tell ye of blind eyes and deaf ears, I am
afraid to lie, for what good shall a lie profit me in the day
of the judgment of this world. =
“Brother, be most terrified for I say unto you I was a
good child until I knew what the world was, and I tell
y soul so bad it melts in my
.
insides. : ’ .
“I could say much more but you all cannot bear them
now. This is just a little. Time is too short. Goodbye old
cruel world. Amen again, and amen.”
|
DAVIS, George, black, electrocuted New Orleans, La., h-29-199.
[
COURTESY
DONALD BUTLER
ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER
CHIEF OF PATROL
SERVICE
SIDNEY B. BERRY
LIEUTENANT GENERAL, U.S.ARMY, RETIRED
COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY
SAFETY
JOHN R. EDWARDS
ASSISTANT CHIEF OF PATROL
5 November 1982
Mr. Ronald C. Van Raalte
Post Office Box 584
Arlington Heights, Illinois 60006
Dear Ron:
Sorry about the delay in responding to your 26 September
1982 request for information on our officers killed in
action but it has taken us this long to complete the research
necessary to answer your questions. What we have found
still might not be exactly what you want.
I am attaching a list containing the names of our officers
killed in action and a copy of a news release that deals
with wreaths bein
Observance of Pea
You will see on the list of 16 troopers who were killed in
g placed at their gravesites this year in
ce Officers Memorial Day.
the line of dut
y that five died as a result of gunshot
wounds.
James M. Barry was killed at age 32 on 1 February 1947 by an
Alfred Deggeller who used a .38 special revolver. Barry had
served on the patrol for four years. His gravesite is
Oakwood Cemetery in Winona, MS.
C. J. Reichart, 45, who had been on the patrol for seven
years, died of gunshot wounds produced by a .32 caliber
automatic weapon. He was shot once with his own service
revolver by George A. Davis, 29, alias Robert Davis. The
trooper received a total of five gunshot wounds 27 January
1947 and died 5 February 1947. ‘His gravesite is in Metarie
Cemetery in Metarie, Louisiana. ©
al - - >
Marcus LaMastus, 37, had been a MHSP trooper for three years
when he was shot by Willie Woodson, 21. The type weapon is
unknown. He died 17 July 1965 and is buried in Drew Cemetery,
Drew, MS.
P.O. BOX 958 @ JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 39205 e TELEPHONE 601 /982-1212
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Patrolman
Reichert
Succumbs
Funeral Services to Bo Weld
iin New Ovleans Vhursday
Mornings} Charge Gunman
With Murder
Cyl J, Heichert, 45, of 1818
JOlh avenuc, Gulfport, at member
of the Missaissippl state highway
Jpateol, dicd today in Charity Hos
pital Jn New Orleans,
Patrolman Relchest was shot
and wounded ou the late afterhoor
of January 227 when he sought to
make an atrert on (US Highway
0, in Loulsiana, of a inun who
had earlier shot another person in
Hancock county, Miastandgpyod,
The Gulfport pattolman was
wounded th oh encounter with 20-
yegr-old George A. Davin, altas
Nebert Davis, of San Antonto,
Tex, who had been charged ta
New Orleans with attempted mur-
Ader,
MURDER CHARGE FILED,
Detective Sergeant Patrick
O'Brien sald today a charge of
miutder han been filed against the
TV Pexnaw Auninoty after Patrelmuan
iRelehert's death.
Death cname to the patrolinan at
A310 aan. today, Hi followed 4
vinit. to the hospital ‘Tuesdry of
muiny friends from Gulfport and
other Mississippi Coast citler ofe
Sering blood for transfusdons dann
lust effort to save his lft. He had
been dixted as dangerously ill ever
singe the shooting. ;
Patrolman Reichert, at the (ime
of the shooting, was escorting the
other vleting of Davist gunplay-=
Charles MeCorley, 21, Detroit,
Mich, paratrooper -— to Charity
Hospital, They overtook Davis ane
the officer aoupht to take tim inte
elintody. After felling Patrolman
Relehert with shots in the bady
wnd? shoulder, Davis) wos overs
powered by two New Orleans men
und the Texan was) brotight to
New Orleans along with the {wo
wotinded nen,
FUNERAL SERVICES
Funeral services .will be held
Thursday mornlug in: New Or-
leans, Jeaving from tha Schoen
tnd Sons Funernd Home, 3827
Cabal street, at 10:30 o'clock for
the) St, Maurice Churth on St.
Majrice avenue, Burk will be
ln Metairie Cemetery With mem-
patrol officlating there.}
the putrol on July 1, 1240, Is sure
vived by hly widow, Mrs. Edt
Pad RNelehert of Gultpoct, who
wag With hin at his death: two
daughters, Mrs. Front Collinuttls
and Misa Glorla) Reichert: his
mother, Mre. Mary Ann Fuller
either New Crleanss . three
brothers, Charlea J. Relehert,
Revel WH. Relehert and Jacob J.
Reichert; and five sisters, Mrs.
Mildred Uloverus, Mra. E:nest J.
AE ge Mrs, Joseph A. Messina,
Mra. Edwin M. Roy! and) Mrs.
Orléans, '
Pallbearers will be fellow.
neinbers of the Mirstssipp! patrol.
Naihed today by C. WH. Bradley,
continissioner of «publie - safety,
wete Marshall Lumpkin af Gult-
por(,’Joe Willman of Puss Chris
tlan, Buy Gray of Poscagoula, Ed
Hart of Picayune, D. FL Barrett of
Broblthaven, and Norman Petro of
her4 Will attend the services,
eee wee eee ese (= 2s epome. —_
bers of the Mississipp} highway) °
Patrolman Relehert, Who jolt!
George F. Hamann, all of New]
Hattiesburg. Other patrol’ mem-
COUR: -
DARING
HT THE
ADVEN-
OF TWO
N DETER-
0 CAPTURE
NY-HANDED,
SANOIT
be in sub-freez-
br, the victim lunged
tor while the ote.
bed in rifling his ver
two shots rang ou
ecially posed)
disro
down over his eyes’ against the late’
‘afternoon sun, Franklin Parks, a New
Orleans salesman of household gadgets,
-snoozed as the big sedan glided smoothly
along Highway 90 near Pearlington; Miss-
issippi. _Alongside him, relaxed hands
merely guiding the wheel, his buddy, Bob |
Meyer, kept one eye.on the road and the
other enviously on Parks, whose comfort-
able ‘position was so evident.
“Don’t know, how he ‘does it,” Meyer
chuckled to himself. “That guy could go
to sleép standing against a pole.”
But there was no reason for Parks to.
stay awake. They were headed. back to
New Orleans on the wintry day of Jan-
uary. 27,,1947, after a-selling trip that. had
kept them hopping from beginning to-erid.
Meyer himself stifled a yawn. “I guess
it’s: the monotony of the drive that. gets
you,” he was forced to. concede. “No won-
der Frank .
If he® was “Gored: a remedy for this
. awaited him just around the next turn.
Meyer had -barely taken the curve and
picked up speed on the long, straight
stretch leading into New Orleans, than a
man emerged from a patch of woods
abutting the highway.
‘Except for. shoes and socks, he was en- '
tirely nude! ~ ,
_ Meyer blinked his eyes a few times: to
make certain his mind wasn’t playing him
tricks. Then, convinced that what he saw
‘ was real, he dug’ an elbow into the ribs of
his sleeping companion.
‘up on ‘the dash Bid hat. pulled well ys
of this.
“Hey, Frank!” he yelled. - “Wake up!
‘Look ‘what’s ahead!” e
The sleep-numbed Parks bolted Upright,
rubbing his hey ang mumbling, “Where?
“What?”
.. Meyer nodded up the road. Suddenly,
Parks saw the figure, too. A puzzled ex-
pression .came over: his face. “What
gives?” he cracked. ‘‘Why would a guy go
running around in the altogether on a
céld day like this?”
Meyer suddenly tensed and uttered a
low ejaculation..
“Hey! Something’s wrong! That fellow’s
bleeding!”
He shoved down hard on the brakes and
the heavy car slithered to a stop with a
squealing protest from its tires. As it
pulled up, a young man with an agonized
- grimace on his face staggered toward the
salesmen.
. “Help: me!” lis moaned. “I’m shot!”
Meyer and Parks quickly saw evidence
Blood was pouring: from ‘wounds
in ‘the youth’s back and right arm.
_~ “Where are your clothes, man?” Parks
‘demanded.
The wounded youth shivered. “He took
’em.... I was stripped . .. robbed of
$120.” *
‘Who did it?”
“A man in...ina gray Plymouth.”
“How long ago?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes . . . I didn’t
dare ... come out of the woods.”
Parks reached into the back of the sedan
for a lap robe.’ Passing this out an open
y a
AGE’ A
HIGHLIGHT THE
EXCITING ADVEN-
TURES OF TWO
SALESMEN DETER-
MINED TO CAPTURE
ABLOODY-HANDED,
BOLD BANDIT .. .
Forced to disrobe in sub-freez-
ing weather, the victim lunged
at his captor while the latter
was absorbed in rifling his wal-
let. Then—two shots rang out.
(Specially posed)
~
ly
io them. Two wit-
ribed as voyageurs,
rderof Judge Pain,
inne, to go to New
‘accused. He also
ceedings as may be
ents to get a clear
but the legal mind
did not have “his
rial.
New Orleans. The
‘used was brought
rs. Marie LeClerc,
larin de la Lande
-e. These papers
criminal trials and
was conducted.
with a certificate
e first paper states
challenged to say
erk of the Council
stimony as given
‘o furnish answers
‘he testimony and
Vi e signatures
J . The clerk
Gardrat, the clerk
> present to verify
nony on the chal-
Superior Council,
ment that the ac-
lered to put irons
‘ansmitted to the
anuary, 1766) by
3 Lafreniere, who
‘fore Judge de la
hbanne, and there-
Cabildo Archives 297
upon the witness was produced and sworn, her deposition as given
before Judge Pain was read to her and she ‘declared it to be the truth
without anything to add to it, nor to omit and persisted therein,”
but at that moment of signing she ‘‘adds that in the moment Degout
committed the deed she lost consciousness and was ill.’”’ She declares
she does ‘“‘not know how to sign” and the deposition is closed with the
signatures of the Judge and his clerk (de Ja Lande and Garic). There
is nothing to indicate that the accused was present on this occasion.
Two days afterward, February 1, 1766, Degout (the accused)
is brought before Denis Nicholas Foucault, acting as first judge in
the Superior Council and from this testimony we learn that the ac-
cused was ‘‘a master sculptor,” aged 47 and a native of Paris. He
was put under oath and interrogated by the Judge, the questions
and answers being given. He was particularly interrogated upon
his past history and denied having killed any one before, but said
“that twenty-two years ago he had been arrested at Leogane for
having stolen three silver pieces with another man while drunk, for
which he was whipped through the town, branded with a fleur de l¥s
and banished.’’ From these answers it is clear that he admits the
slaying but contends it was in self defense. The deposition is signed
by him and by Judge Foucault. .
On the same day, February 1, 1766, the Council met to deter-
mine the culprit’s fate. This document shows that there were pres-
ent “Aubry, Commandant of the Colony, Knight of the Royal and
Military Order of St. Louis; Foucault, Intendant Commissary and
First Judge; de la Lande D’Appremont; Huchet de Kernion; de
Launay, councillors; and Messrs. Le Sassier, de la Chaise, de la Place,
councillor assessors, and the Attorney General of the King.”
The Attorney General presents the several depositions and docu-
ments which we have examined in the foregoing pages, and thereupon
the Council renders judgment, finding Degout guilty. The court
“was unanimous and the autographs of the judges are affixed to this
instrument. The whole barbarous punishment which the defendant
is to undergo is detailed in this decree and it is a terrible specimen of
the bloody penalties inflicted by the early criminal law. Fortunately
it was not peculiar to Louisiana; its prototype can be found in all the
countries of the world at the period in question—the last half of the
eighteenth-century.
The authority for these proceedings, as we have previously said,
is the Ordinance of 1670. ‘Regarding this, the following extract
from Larousse (Dictionaire Universel, Vol. II, page 1424, Ordinances)
296 The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
grail
the wife of the same, and a negro slave belonging to them. Two wit &
nesses, and apparently important ones, are described as voyageurs, #
who could not be found.
The proces verbal is concluded by a brief order of Judge Pain,
directing one of these witnesses, Madame Darbanne, to go to New a
Orleans to be examined and confronted with the accused. He alo
transmits the proces verbal for such further proceedings as may be |
necessary.
On the whole one is able from these documents to get a clear §
view of the occurrences leading up to the killing, but the legal mind
of 1920 reacts to the possibility that the accused did not have “his #
day in Court” at this most critical period of his trial.
The second phase of the case develops in New Orleans. The |
record recites that on January 29, 1766, the accused was brought
from jail by the jailer and confronted by Mrs. Marie LeClere
wife of Darbanne, in the presence of Charles Marin de la Lande #
D’Appremont, councillor, commissaire in this case. These papers
throw great light on this peculiar feature Of old criminal trials and q
from them we may learn just how that proceeding was conducted.
Each step in the case is opened and closed with a certificate
reciting the date and other particulars; thus the first paper states
that Degout and Mrs. Darbanne were sworn ‘‘and challenged to sy &
whether they knew each other,” after which the clerk of the Cound #
read the first paragraphs of Mrs. Darbanne’s testimony as gives |
before Judge Pain and Degout was “challenged” to furnish answers | E
to the said witness if there were any. Afterward the testimony ané |
reexamination were read to him. This part closes with the signatures
of the accused, the clerk of the Council and the Judge. The clerk | i
who conducts the proceeding to this stage is Henry Gardrat, the clerk #
of Judge Pain’s Court; possibly it was his duty to be present to verily | 4
the examination or perhaps to assist the upper judges.
This is followed by a report. of Degout’s testimony on the chal
lenge, which is signed by him, by Garic, clerk of the Superior Council
and by Judge de la Lande. It closes with the statement that the a
cused was remanded to jail; that the jailer was ordered to put irons | q
on-his feet and hands, and that this report’ be transmitted to th ©
Attorney General.
The next step is taken on the same day (29 January, 1766) by a
the Attorney General (name not given but doubtless Lafreniere, whe
was holding the office at that date) who appears before Judge dele
Lande to require the re-examination of Marie Darbanne, and there _
upon
befor
withe
but <
com:
she ¢
signi
is NO
is br
the !
CuUse(
was
and
his ]
“tha
havi
whi
and
slayii
by hi
min¢
ent:
Milit
First
Law
coun
men!
the |
was
inst!
is to
the |
it w:
coun
eighi
is tl
froni
Cabildo Archives 295
q
-
i
lit Sr de La- noted. The second phase is the actual trial before the Superior he
. q . ® ry. ° . ° 67 Meas Bike
ir 1rétien, ® Council. The first Part opens before Daniel Pain, Judge, at Natchi- e ath
juin mil sept toches, Louisiana, which was the scene of the crime. Hats Bi
Michel Degout is charged with the murder of one Crette, whose
first name is not fiven, at Natchitoches, October 91766... The
Superior Council at New Orleans apparently had issued an order in
-t cependant | November, 1765, to Mr. Pain, acting judge, at that place to investj-
'r etre trans- gate and report to the Council, He seems to have completed the es
investigation at one sitting, January 2, 1766. The decision was ren- ae
dered in New Orleans, February 1, 1766, by the whol
e Council, seven art :
juinenvertu _ | Members. The accused was found guilty and condemned to death ay oa
-elle Orléans with a multiplication of torture before death and in execution of the flit
Jay, Marin sentence. It would appear however, that the judges relented and i
elle Orleans modified the penalty so that death preceded the mutilation,
la Marine,
The record is complete save the first document, the indictment.
ry jour en la BS it appears that Judge Pain’s inquiry was conducted out of the pres-
der, sur Et: ence of the accused, who, it is certified, was confined in jail at New
mee. dbs ® Orleans. The official proces verbal or return of the order begins with
du présent #® acaption or certificate showing the capacity and authority of the .
® investigating judge and this
® xveral witnesses, reported
by questions and answers.
is followed by the depositions of the
after the old manner by summary and not
4 It would also appear that the inquiry
ue le sieur @ as conducted by the judge ex parte, with the assistance of his clerk
s damande @ there being no reference to an appearance by any one for the prose-
uy soit fait @ cation or the defense. ;
Leas Mecae &
Sess arr
YE 45-44
Nouvelle Each deposition is preceded hy the declaration of. the witness
@ wder oath that he is neither a relative nor servant of either Party,
meaning the deceased and the accused; (evidently they had the rule |
® ofexclusion for interest) and that he has appeared under notice (or
subpoena) from the Judge. The deposition is closed by a recitation
@ that the deposition was read to the witness who persisted therein
@ 2nd that he took or refused the witness fee (variously termed tax or
® sary) to which he was apparently entitled. It also carries at the
® cose the phrase “in accordance with the ordinance”, showing that
procedure 4 the officer employed a form, long established, and which was in turn
As will @ precribed by the Ordinance of 1670 on Criminal Procedure. The
ontinental ® whole is then signed by the witness, the Judge and by the Clerk of
® the Court.
‘ivalent to a The completed return shows that Judge Pain examined six
lagistrate, ® witnesses whose occupations give some idea of the variety to he found
ihe record a in that isolated place in 1766. Among these we find a blacksmith, a
itly to be ;
wainer of paroquets, a merchant, a “‘habitant”’ (farmer or planter),
298 The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
will help us to understand and appreciate position of Judges and ac-
cused in Louisiana in 1766. The author says:
ORDINANCE OF OCTOBER, 1670. This ordinance, whose
chief framer was the Counselor Pussort, has as its object the fixing
of jurisdictions, and the rules of procedure in criminal matters. It
followed the deplorabie mistakes of that of Villers-Cotterets of
1539. It is possible to give a summary of the ordinance by its general
provisions. Instructions are given for every step of the trial. The
testimony of witnesses is received and reduced to a proces verbal of
inquest,—not by judges on the hench, but by a judge ““Commissaire.”
The same commissioner continued to act alone, interrogating the
accused and writing down his answers on a proces verbal. The un-
happy accused, before being interrogated, has to take an oath to
testify to the truth. The law seeks here to influence even the con-
science of the accused and to put him on the alternative of perjuring
or denouncing himself. Then followed the recalling of witnesses and
their confrontation with the accused. The latter had to make his
denials of the witnesses’ testimony (reproaches against the witness)
at the very moment of the confrontation, and they were not received
later unless at the time of the confrontation the accused was not
shown a written report of his answers. It was only when this inquiry
was completed that the accused appeared before the judges assembled
as a tribunal, or before the court who was to pass on his fate, and he
then underwent another interrcgation, this time on the witness stand.
It was at this time that he was allowed to offer proof thereon. If the
judges were not satisfied with the justification offered by the accused,
they then proceeded with the case. If the case was one of capital of-
fense and the inquiry disclosed considerable proof of guilt but still
insufficient to justify an immediate conviction an interlocutory
sentence was rendered, ordering that the accused be re-examined
(called “‘question’’). On this reexamination he was interrogated
by the judge commissioner, who, for that purpose proceeded to the
torture chamber and made a proces verbal of the declarations which
the tortures extracted from the accused. This was the “preparatory”
torture before the final sentence. There was also a “preliminary”
torture which was undergone after the final sentence and before the
execution. The purpose of this “‘preliminary” torture (“question”)
was to obtain from the condemned person the names of his accom:
plices in those cases where there were thought to be accomplices.
In-capital cases the accused was not allowed counsel or a defen: _
der. The Ordinance allowed an accused counsel only in exceptional
cases,
such a:
Le
“prelin
T!
ments
Cruza!
printéc
iv
toches,
Dudcit
Marie |
last tw:
2.
ing cot
before
tion of
Degout
Superio
3.
renderc:
amendn
sentenc
was ren:
Pain.
Januar:
Inform
agains!
tion of
against «
Orleans,
Januar:
Natchit:
eworn to
of the pe
Testifies
General «
suburbs of -Lake .Charles, and, after lying around there that day, made his way by a Eitvextkeesx
xuuk circuitous route to a point a little west of West Lake Charles where that night
he boarded a freight train.and returned to Orange, Tex. Sheriff Reid learned this from
a negro the same.day, and telegraphed to the authorities at Orange, who at once
arrested Dial and in a few hours Sheriff Reid was in Orange .and returned titht Dial to
Lake Charles. He placed the two negroes in different cells in our jail, and soon Larg
confessed the mrder, but said Bial committed it. Dial, for a few days, stoutly de-
nied this, but said he was present and saw Large mrder Freti, Being confronted with
a statement of the circumstantial.evidence against him, outside.of Large's confession,
Dial told the. whole truth and so did Large, Indicted for murder at the May term of the
district court, on arraignment, simmmgkioombriuexxx though advised that such a plea meant
., death oh the gallows, Large pleaded guilty, and Dial said he was guilty of 'holding the
man out of the car, but not guilty of mrder," The court refused to accept these pleas
ordered trial by jury, and appointed counsel to defend the prisoners, A few days later
on a second arraignment, the prisoners repeated the former pleas, but the court again
refused to accept them, and the case was tried by jury, resulting in a verdict of guile
ty and they were sentenced to be hung{ They received the sentence without question, Large
smilingly asking the judge: "What.day will we be hung?® The judge replied that the
governor of the state wuld fix the day, and they left the court room apparently
gratified that the trial was over, .They $##4# soon professed religion, repentance
and confession, and on the 20th of June they were baptized in the jail by immersion
by Rev. Giles North, a resident colored Baptist preacher..."
. | EXECUTION .
Were informed that they were to die on.9=l; three dgas earlier. Sheriff D. J. Reid
-had scaffold entirely surrounded by 22 foot high palisade, Both slept well on night
pefore execution and on morning of deaths, with money contributed by other prisoners,
purchased and ate substantial breakfast from a hotel, Cheerful and composed as a
number of blacks and some whites came to cell and shook hands at noon, Dressed in
new suits furnished by sheriff at 12:5, At 1 o'clock listened intently to reading
of death warrant and then affixed white flowers to lapels, gave written confession to
. Rev, North and said goodbye to other prisoners, Firmly ascended scaffold and took
seatse After prayer, Dial rose, declared readiness to die and asked that all present
who wished to meet him in heaven quld.hold up their right hands and S¥XKgXxXbaH saying
goodbye, sat down, Large rose and said he hoped all present would prafit by lesson
. before them and avoid bad company, Said: 'If the Lord were to come and stand here
now I wonder how.many of you would be as ready to meet him as I am now? Goodby to
all,"Black caps and nooses adjusted after limbs.pinioned and drep fell at I:h5.
Dial's neck broken, but Large s §# rope broke and he X&&X fell to ground, insensible.
Halfedozgen of Sheriff's assistants carried Large back up scaffold, parted rope hasti-
ly tied and still insensible body dropped from platform by those holding it,. Gave
no Xighn sign of life though neck not broken, As horrified witnesses came out on the
courthouse square they were still more horrified to find dead body of Joseph Voltz, a
timner, aged 50 years, lying dead on the sidewalk infront of a 2=story hotel on the
same square. The unfortunate man was ascending the roof of the hotel to get.a view of
the execution, when he lost his footing and fell 30 fegt to the sidewalk, striking on
his head, breaking his skull and dying in ten imuntes, DAILY NEWS, Galveston, Tex.,
9=5=1891 (3-1). ©
~~
N.0. Pic. 9-8-1880 1° Abberynon Edthin reperts tipi) Syuad tretithis; of an Unnamed Creek
tadiary at Eufaula O% on 9/7 §0. He murdered another idten named John Creer th 6/90 at the behest
of a Third party whe pard hin 3/0 blood-money.
NW.0. Pie. [0-9-1890 §:§ Grves excellent account of Firdeg Spuad ekecuhars of Chester Dixon at
Atoka OK on GVfjo/$o for the murder of an ladiar wenran pramed Martha a year previeusly, fle Was
atull blooded Choctaw aged /7 and an c. Me (tved with hts mother and steptather about frve
tuikt sies bakes Tes Mates miphlees tat agile: teak Cogele Qatenc tebcitin sgt ee
He watted trl! the roan wert fe town on The fatal day and ther attacked the teevman si her hotise Witte
an axe, clecapitatreg her. We neobve was ever divulged. He was Sten runing frews the place Covered
with blood. Eventually captured, he was Condemned to be Shot by the Cireut Court of the Indian Terwtory
but aflowed fo je ar liberty between the towe of his Sentence and execufiws. This remarkable phenewersa
Was — vt the tes faw fare/e pa Kener E Which Condemned trtbemen were alltwed trcedeu 7e
OY attans ty order priir fe the execution. All Stith persons Were Yied Te repirt prom
lrg place of execithin bt Hoare tuointed time and Such hes She deanaeat Beate soetag Cheeteae
tor wietters of hener Hhat none weuld dare welsh. On the cay before bys exetutbire, Chester Linen freely
Ime the pocands of the undertaking establiimnents in Atoka and Saw 7o bis cobtiin exe. On the neyp day
a crowd was gathered on the Courtheuse lawn te ante ipaton of the Vent. At twenty sminutes before
the Zero hour Dizon freely pode “yp on fu3 horse, dsmeunted and went Aoreigh the Cheeta pifua/ th prop-
aration tor cleath as betithed a young brave. He went among the Crowd to fay hit Farewells and commined
with his Med icvne Man. Then fe td tio his Funeral Chothes and sat on a leq wbrich bad bten laced
on the Courthouse lawn. /4s mother brushed fis hate for hin as he Sat there. Then fhe Medicine an
placed a et over bl heart, he Feld cut fry arms and was then Shot dead by a lene rmaristiary,
The executther was a cousin of Dixon, chesen by him especially tor the job.
Puritan = Alene y SG, Le, ee ee ae egal
a hin x“ \ orate bec daw ceLirecee theo Pedr tng.
Gorcag Lo Nila lee Be? hfs di eds?
(aknagh 00 VVaE re
i
i
| this
con-
wned
vise
orove
“1ces
lle
iy of
y an
Vau-
mnvia-
v re-
situ-
’ the
dges
t the
| left
‘heir
PF. be
| de
and
ence
y to
A
Orleans, Lae, June or July, 1752.
Records of the Superior Council of Louisiana 567
tutor ad hoc of the minor children of deceased Joseph Millon and
ef Marie Francoise Girardy, defendant: Seen by the Council the
decree of last January 9th, ordering a family meeting; that of
February 3rd, approving account rendered by M. Desruisseaux,
‘otified to M. Girardy on March 17th of the present year, and
drthe accountant March 28rd, with the transactions approved
and confirmed by the Council; accounts and attestation of Sr.
Lubreuil of number of effects confounded in the inventory made
at Mobile at the time of the death of Joseph Millon, father of
said minors, owned in part by Mr. Dubreuil in partnership for
an enterprise in common, and on the 22nd of March of this year,
the whole having been examined, the report of M. Raguet, Com-
missioner in this case, and conclusions of the Procureur General,
Council has homologated said reports, and orders elimination
wnd reduction to be made of a sum of 15,245 livres, 10 sols, on
contents of inventory of deceased Joseph Millon, first husband
ef Marie Francoise Girardy, now wife of Joseph Desruisseaux.
The account presented by Sr. Desruisseaux will remain closed
and settled in receipt as well as in expense as it stands, for the
lalance as well as returns on negroes to be divided between the
Widow and her children; and moreover to appeal to the Gover-
nor and Ordonnateur for land owned by Millon succession.
Signed: By the Council; Henry, Greff.
Received ten livres.
October 16, 1751.—By virtue of the de-
cree rendered, on petition of Sr. Joseph
Desruisseaux, resident at Bayou St. John,
Sheriff Lenormand has left copy of said decree to Sr. Joseph
Girardy at his Se New Orleans.
Notice served
oa Girardy.
Criminal Trial for Assassination:—Re-
June 8. /
port of the Chief Surgeon of the King’s
Ip. Hospital: I, the undersigned, Surgeon
Report of Major of the Hospital of the King in this
lt tal Colony, having been required to see and ex-
ve wound amine a negress named Louison, owned by
of Louison.
the King, in whom I found a wound situa-
ted in the anterior and exterior part of the
collar bone, on the right side, three inches
deep, which wound appears to be inflicted
by a sharp instrument, which I certify as
true; in testimony of which I have delivered
the present certificate, to serve and avail as need may be. At
New Orlenns, June 8th, 1752.
1 June 8, 1752.—I, the undersigned, Sur-
ie geon Major of this Colony, having been
requested to see and examine a negress
DOCHENET, Pierre Antoine, “2l-year-old soldier, hanged at New
SSETaIT¥’ UNE
at
PE ie
SERRE LS EEE
RE
The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
Ath witness, Mathieu Mulquet, soldier of M. de Chavoye’s
company, aged twenty-four years.
5th, Francois, negro slave of the Nuns, aged twenty-five
years, who recognized him as a soldier who had long been a
patient at the Hospital.
6th, Francois, a Creole negro of this Colony, owned by
Widow Brantan, aged twenty years.
7th witness, Marianne called Manon, Creole negress owned
by Le Quintrek’s succession.
Signed: Raguet; Henry, Greff.
June 13, 1752.—Proces Verbal of the
4 pp. declaration of the two wounded negresses,
Proces_ verbal on order of M. Michel, Commissioner Gen-
ey aiee eral of the Marine, below the complaint of
wounded the Procureur General. Jean Baptiste
negresses. . é s °
Raguet, Commissioner in this case, went to
the Hospital of the King, adjoining the
Convent, accompanied by the Greffier of
the Council. We asked the Ladies of the
Hospital, who are Reverend Mothers Xavier and Madeleine, to
show us said negresses, and having brought us to a cabin in the
yard of the Hospital, where lived Babet, and finding her on her
bed, we interrogated her and received her declaration in broken
words and without sequence. The said Ladies and the Surgeon
told us she was in this condition since the assault, with high
fever, and that they are momentarily awaiting death. In another
cabin, we faund Louison, wife of Baptiste, Surgeon’s aid; they
were dressing many wounds inflicted by Dochenet. She said
that eight or ten days ago she was washing, when she saw Doch-
enet trifling on a piece of lumber, cutting it with his bayonet.
She did not understand what he was saying, and a moment later
she saw a man stab her with a bayonet in her stomach. He
began to curse because she asked him why he was trying to as-
sassinate her, whereupon he gave her blows on the head, on the
body and hands, saying he would assassinate her; but having a
hat on her head and a strong coset, she did not receive as many
wounds, and that she tried to flee to the Convent, but he cried
to her: “On your knees and beg me pardon’’. She answered that
one asked pardon only of God; nothwithstanding, she fell on her
knees and said: ‘‘Padon, Monsieur’; he stabbed her several more
times, and during that time the other negresses ran to the Con-
vent crying: “They are assassinating us; a soldier is chasing us
with a bayonet.”? At this moment Baptiste, her husband, and a
Irenchman ran to their help. They escaped, excepting Baptiste,
who was wounded in the hand. Other persons came and brought
him to the Hospital, where he cursed so terribly that he was
brought to the guard house; which she said was all she knew.
» Chavoye’s
twenty-five
ong been a
owned by
ress owned
bal of the
. negresses,
ioner Gen-
‘mplaint of
1 Baptiste
se, went to
oining the
rreffier of
lies of the
deleine, to
tbin in the
her on her
in broken
e Surgeon
\\ high
ly other
aid; they
She said
<aw Doch-
. bayonet.
nent later
iach. He
ing to as-
id, on the
having a
as many
he cried
ered that
ell on her
‘ral more
the Con-
lasing us
d,anda
saptiste,
‘brought
he was
ie knew.
y ee iad, és
Records of the Superior Council of Louisiana 571
}
And being questioned she persisted that it was the truth; in
testimony of which this proces verbal was drawn up. The said
negress declared that she could not write nor sign, wherefore
inquiry following the ordinance. We then asked the Nuns of the
Hospital if they intended to make their declaration or denuncia-
tion against said Dochenet. They answered that neither their
community nor themselves wished in any way to be mixed in this
affair; on the contrary, if they could save this man’s life they
would ask for it; that they preferred to lose their negress than
to do anything against charity or their neighbor, and they would
not sign; wherefore inquiry. Done at the Hospital on said day
and month at ten o’clock in the morning. Signed: Raguet;
Henry, Greff.
June 17, 1752. Decree of bodily appre-
hension against one Dochenet, on demand
of the Procureur General of the King. Seen
by the Council the petition of the Procureur General, in form of
complaint of the present month; order given at his request per-
mitting inquiry against accused; interrogation on the facts re-
sulting from the facts of the same day; the proces verbal, in the
form of a declaration of the two negresses, the interrogation of
Dochenet, the inquiry and testimony of seven witnesses ; the re-
port of the chief surgeon of the King; the conclusions of the
Procureur General of the King, and the report of Raguet, Com-
missioner in this ease. The Council has decreed bodily appre-
hension against Pierre Antoine Dochenet, and imprisonment in
prisons of this City, and in consequence orders that he be interro-
gated again on the facts resulting from the charges, inquiry and
all else on which the Procureur General wished him to be heard.
That the witnesses heard in said inquiry will be re-examined
and confronted with the accused, the whole to be reported to
the Council, to be ordered thereon what is just. Signed: By the
Council; Henry, Greff.
3"4 pp.
Arrest and
imprisonment of Dochenet.
June 17, 1752. Order for confrontation
of witnesses with the accused, Pierre An-
toine Dochenet. Signed: Michel; Dauber-
ville; Raguet.
Document falling to pieces.
149 pp.
Order for
confrontation
ef witnesses,
June 19, 1752. Second Interrogation of
Dochenet at 7 o’clock A M. As in the first
interrogation, he remembered nothing;
even when brought to prison he knew not
the cause. He declared that he did not know how to write nor
sign, wherefore inquiry, following ordinance. Signed: Raguet;
Henry (paraph), Greff.
& pp.
Second inter-
rogation of
the accused.
ee Borate
ee a ae ae
Si APM LR LNG MES A BeBe Bek, ie BAe Pied — as, a SBA SERA tif EN ites eR DIOS ——
on igre «igh
Se
yen
LP PIO POPS
ae
nod ed LS
‘3
TY Ti Reiterates tet ype
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z
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Bie ye Fe
2, Hort, 1935
568 The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
br of named Babet, owned by the Ursuline
Surgeon Gueydon ? :
on wound of Ladies, to whom I found a wound situated
ee in the superior part of the sternum (breast
bone), penetrating about two inches in the
chest, which wound was made by a sharp
instrument, which I certify as true; in testimony of which I have
delivered the present certificate, to serve and avail as need may
be, at New Orleans, on June 8th, 1752. Signed: Gueydon.
June 12, 1752.—On Complaint of M. de
Membrede, Major of the place, the Procur-
Sietdbrede os eur has demanded the imprisonment of
petition of Pierre Antoine Dochenet, for attempt to
the Procureur
assassinate two negresses; one Louison,
married to Baptiste, owned by the Hospital
of the King; and the other, Babet, who is
a slave of the Ursuline Ladies. He prays
that a commissioner be appointed, and that,
accompanied by the Greffier, he go to the
Hospital to receive the declaration of the
wounded and the complaint of the Mother Superior, and the
Mother at the Hospital, to be reported to the Comptroller of the
Marine, for the one belonging to the King. The accused to be
interrogated, the bayonet deposited at the corps de garde; that
witnesses be cited before the Commissioner on the facts and cir-
cumstances; after the inquiry, such conclusions to be taken as
shall appertain. Signed: Fleuriau.
General against
Pierre Antoine
Dochenet.
June 12, 1752.—Permit for inquiry
ee before M. Raguet, Commissioner, interroga-
tion of wounded negresses, slaves of the
Ursuline Ladies and the King, and of the criminal, the whole to
be reported, to be ordered thereon what is just. Signed: Michel.
Document charred, lines cut through.
2 pp. June 12, 1752.—lInterrogation of Doch-
enet, on order of M. Michel, General Com-
intocemestion missioner of the Marine, following petition
of the Procureur General of the King,
plaintiff and accuser, of Pierre Antoine
Dochenet, in M. de La Houssaye’s Company, aged about twenty-
four years, baptized in the Roman Catholic religion. States that —
he does nat know why he was imprisoned, as he was under the ©
effect of liquor and did not know what he was doing. Told
that eight days ago he was on the river bank opposite the Con- ~~
vent and that he wounded two negresses with his bayonet, he
said that he did not remember doing that. Asked if the neg-
resses’ refusal did not make him stab them, he answered he did
not. Interrogated if before going near the water he did not go
he Ursuline
und situated
‘num (breast
inches in the
e by a sharp
which I have
as need may
‘ydon.
int of M. de
. the Procur-
‘sOonment of
attempt to
ne Louison,
‘he Hospital
tibet, who is
_ He prays
‘d, and that,
ie go to the
ition of the
OF, and the
‘oller of the
cused to be
rarde; that
cts and cir-
¢ taken as
or inquiry
. interroga-
ves of the
e whole to
d: Michel.
t of Doch-
ieral Com-
'g petition
the King,
' Antoine
it twenty-
states that
under the
iz. Told
the Con-
yonet, he
the neg-
ed he did
‘id not go
Records of the Superior Council of Louisiana 569
to the Barracks to get the bayonet, he answered that he did not
know. Questioned again, he said that he only remembers leav-
injy with his friend to go to the canteen, that he then had no
bayonet, and that if when drunk he went and got it, he does not
remember. Asked what reason he had to wound these negresses,
he answered that he has no knowledge of having wounded any
one; that he does not remember it; that these negresses were
not his enemies; that, far from it, when he was in the hospital
they took care of him. To all questions he answered that he
did not remember, that it was the jailer who told him of it.
Asked if when he was in fury he did not pursue a negress who
rushed into the water up to her neck, he said he did not re-
member it; if he did not oblige one of the negresses to ask for-
giveness on her knees, and on her doing so he fell on her with
his bayonet, he said that he knew nothing of it; and they could
question him, that being dead drunk he was brought to prison,
he knows not why. His interrogation being read to him, he said
that it was the truth, maintained it, and declared that he could
not write nor sign, wherefore inquiry following the ordinance.
Signed: Raguet; Henry, Greff,
1°) pp. June 12, 1752.—By Virtue of the order
see stirs al given by M. Michel, Commissioner General
witnesses. of the Marine, Ordonnateur and First
Judge, on petition of the Procureur Gen-
eral, plaintiff and accuser, residing on
Royal Street, Sheriff Marin Lenormand has served notices of cita-
tion on Sr. Guillaume Renard, soldier of M. de la Barre’s com-
pany, domiciled at the Barracks; on Sr. Antoine Berry, of de
Montberaut’s Company, domiciled at the Barracks; on Sr. Badon,
Surgeon at the Hospital; on Francois, a negro of the Hospital;
on Francois, negro of Madam Brantan; and (illegible), negro of
Mr. Couturier, to appear before Commissioner Raguet, to answer
on the stabbing of two negresses with a Bayonet, in default of
which they will be condemned to pay a fine of ten livres. Signed:
Lenormand.
June 13, 1752.—Inquiry before Council-
lor Jean Baptiste Raguet, Commissioner in
this case, against Pierre Antoine Dochenet,
defendant and accused: Testimony of
Guillaume Renard, in garrison in this City,
aged twenty-eight years.
2nd witness, Antoine Berry, Soldier of Monberaut’s Com-
pany, in garrison in this city, aged twenty years.
8°) pp.
Testimony of
witnesses.
3rd_ witness, Joseph Badon, surgeon’s employee at the
Hospital, in Daubry’s company, aged 18 years.
hn eee
Bie Pei sk
<SPAN Boag 2s
_ Sead on eg sa at
RORY TR te FRR tne oR Tee
nes
are ae
strats 7 “ae Nt be
2 eet erie
Spatodine te ts
Saree
cg hel get
wee pe ‘oa a aaa
RS RE ES
rong
pte ES Sat
ete as eee he
AIRE Limi oer 5
ze %
Tea,
Sih conta
fo
eet
572 The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
21% pp June 20, 1752. By Virtue of a decree
s ‘ rendered by the Superior Council on the
Notices of 17th instant, Sheriff Marin Lenormand
citation of : ‘ e
witnesses served notices on the different witnesses
Poa to appear in the Criminal Chamber of the
Chamber. Council, to be confronted with the accused,
Dochenet, in default of which they will be fined ten livres,
Signed: Lenormand.
6 pp. June 21, 1752. Re-Examination of wit-
tis wcnesinertion nesses. Signed: Raguet; Henry (paraph),
of witnesses. Greff.
Document in shreds.
8 pp. June 21, 1752. Confrontation of wit-
; nesses with the accused. Signed: Raguet;
nf yet ley Henry (paraph), Greff.
pike: June 21, 1752. Order to communicate
Procureur General. to the Procureur General. Signed: Raguet.
renee ce June 26, 1752. Final Interrogation of
Dochenet. the accused, Pierre Antoine Dochenet.
This document is in shreds and cannot be handled.
June 26, 1752. Conclusions of the Pro-
Conclusions of cureur General, in suit against Pierre An-
Cased in tes toine Dochenet. Seen by us, suit criminally
ie rg suit instituted against Pierre Antoine Dochenet,
Dochenet. on our demand, for attempt to assassinate
several negresses, for ambush with intent
to kill with a bayonet; our petition, in form of a complaint on
June 12th, and the order rendered thereon; the present interro-
gations of the accused of the same day; the proces verbal of
the declarations of both negresses, drawn up on June 13th of
the present month; the inquiry of the same day, June 138th; the
report of Sr. Gueydon, Surgeon Major of the Hospital, of June
8th of the present year and month, on Babet and Louison; Our
conclusions of June 17th; the decree of bodily arrest of the said
accused on June 17th, carrying that he will be entered on the
Registers of the prison, to be interrogated again, before wit-
nesses, witnesses to be re-examined and confronted with the ac-
cused; imprisonment of the same day, June 17th; interrogation
of the accused, June 19th; confrontation of witnesses with the
accused on June 21st; and all that has entered the suit, duly
considered ; I demand for the King that Pierre Antoine Dochenet,
prisoner, be duly charged and convicted of the crime of reiter-
i
re
iy 4 ‘f
ap
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é
i
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f ated and premeditated assassination, ambush, and stabbing with 4
bs ea
25 ISS
Le
of a decree
uncil on the
Lenormand
nt witnesses
‘mber of the
the accused,
i ten livres.
ation of wit-
vy (paraph),
tion of wit-
ed: Raguet;
ommunicate
ed: Raguet.
rogation of
chenet.
led.
( e Pro-
vierre An-
t criminally
e Dochenet,
assassinate
with intent
mmplaint on
ent interro-
3 verbal of
ine 13th of
e 13th; the
al, of June
‘uison; Our
of the said
red on the
fore wit-
ith the ac-
terrogation
‘ with the
suit, duly
‘ Dochenet,
e of reiter-
bbing with
rm
Records of the Superior Council of Louisiana 573
a bayonet, in reparation of which, let him be hung and strangled
by the public executioner until death ensues, the gallows, for this
purpose, to be erected in the public square; each and all of his
goods in this country to be confiscated to the profit of the King,
and condemned to costs. Signed: Fleuriau.
June 28, 1752. Judgment of condemna-
tion against Dochenet. Signed: Michel;
Dauberville; Le Bretton, Huchet de Kernion; Raguet; Henry
(paraph), Greffier.
Many documents in this file are falling to pieces; some the |
Judgment.
erumbled and cannot be handled. The first document in the
case is dated June 8th and the last June 28th.
June 14.
lt, pp.
Petition to Superior Council by Sr. Claude
Joseph Villars Dubreuil, hearer of account,
vs. Sr. Loquet de La Pommeraye, accoun-
tant: The hearer thought he had finished,
but he is obliged to claim a young negro,
son of Sausy and of Morille, whom Sr. de La Pommeraye would
wish to eliminate from the succession, having accredited to said
Sosie (Sausy) and Morille three children when they had four.
Said Joseph is a negro boy about seven or eight years old, and
makes with the other twenty slaves an added one to be sold for
the profit of the said succession. Signed: Villars.
Dubreuil vs.
de la Pommeraye.
June 14, 1752. On Petition of Sr. Joseph
Villars Dubreuil, domiciled in his father’s
house, Marin Lenormand, sheriff and usher
in the Superior Council, residing in New
Orleans, where he has elected his domicile, has served notice,
and left copy of above petition to Sr. Guillaume Loquet de La
Pommeraye, domiciled on his plantation, speaking to him per-
sonally, which was certified. Signed: Lenormand.
Notice served
on de la
Pommeraye.
Petition to the Superior Council by Srs. Domi-
nique Deverbois and Charles Joseph Del-
homme,* officers in this Colony, acting for
their wives, Marguerite and Laurene Chau-
vin Deléry, and Sr. de Lhomme, as Attor-
ney for Sr. Francois Chauvin Deléry, his
brother-in-law, stating that the act passed before Mr. Henry,
Notary, in 1748, that Sr. Louis Dubois had acquired from him
and his sisters four male negroes, Pieces d’Inde, for 4000 livres,
at the majority of the vendors, and to the ladies at their mar-
riage. On demand for payment Dubois said that he would pay
when his crop was gathered. The creditors gave him the time
demanded. Sr. Dubois sold all his boards, and they can touch
June 22,
24) pp.
De Verbois
and De Lhomme
vs. Du Bois
ST.PETERSBURG TIMES #&
1st sat there dumb," said one withess, “a dumb ox."
-
Wee
John Thistlewaite: ees 4
“ft was a portable electric chair; at that time Louisi-
ana law required that the electrocution be held,in the:
parish seat of the parish where the crime was commit-
ted, and they had a portable electric chair with an
executioner and the whole works. They had a great big
enclosed truck they carried it around in. The generator
was on wheels.” : ;
Faith Fontenot: eee.
" “God, half the town and parish turned out. It was
like a big potitical gathering, a big rally. ‘here were
people all over. It was something to. see..It was sort of.
gleeful. Everybody thought they deserved it. Everybody
was, you-hate to say tickled pink, but they deserved it, “.
ent +; S
~e
they had killed a prominent fellow.”
John Thistlewaite:
“It was up in the tliird floor of the courthouse. The:
cables went frorfi the genérator up through a window |
into this room, very thick; black cables. The room, it
wasn’t Yery big, maybe 30 by 30. * re
. .““The sheriff in his wisd5m — so many people were
of seven official ba ie ae
-*You see, the sheriff and I were good friends: We
eet 3
; Ray Couvillion: '
unted together. He said, ‘When they execute those
guys, I want. you as a witness.’ So that’s:-now J HRogmea: ;
nicole pei Se :
he
< ss s% .
ee
nr Sone te
* Seas 4
killing me.” He says, ‘Yeah, but you’re gonna beat me
there.’ ‘ : :
“I don’t know this to be fact — I do know that the
chair failed once, and Grady is supposed to have said,
‘Give me a 2-by-4, and I'll knock him in the head.’ ”
John Thistlewaite:
“He had a cigar the whole time, chewing on that
. cigar the whole time. :
a
“I don’t know what he did; he must have turned
“some switch that I didn’t see because that generator
started making a heckuva noise before he popped that
switch . .. and when the generator stared making noise,
the people (outside) started moaning. ©
“Tt was eerie, it really was. ; :
~ “But those two brothers were very stoic, they didn’t
showany emotion at all. I remember Joe rolled his eyes
all around looking at everybody. Matthew just sat there,
dumb, a dumb ox. Matthew was the big one.
“He strapped the feet and wrists and arms first, and
he put that caplike thing on last, and I noticed when he
pulled the strap behind their head tight it mashed their
noses. And I thought, ‘Goddamn, that’s uncomfortable
as hell. It’s gotta be hurting those fellows to have their
. noses mashed like that.’ ” 0 ee eer att ree
Lonnie Rogers: © —
“That mask they put over to keep the eyes from
popping out.” ’
- Rev. A.W. Rosette:
“Let me tell you: When you’re in the death chair, you
have that cap on your head, that mask over your eyes,
those straps around your legs and wrist and chest, and
“You-hear that dynamo going outside, and you look
around and see all those faces, let me tell you, that’s not
easy
Going Through.”
“My duty was to stay there, and I sang a song, “I’m _
gave him that first shot. They gave him, I think, three
shots. And each time the man jumped.”
John Thistlewaite:
- “They strained at those masks.”
Ray Couvillion:
“You could see he just went limp.”
John Mills:
“Did you ever smell where a squirrel or something
got on a wire and got electrocuted? There's no other
smell like it, flesh burned by electricity.”
Ray Couvillion:
“You could see he was dead.”
John Thistlewaite:
“It went pretty quickly, really.”
Faith Fontenot:
“When it was over, of course, nobody clapped.”
John Thistlewaite:
“They brought those coffins right in and put them
«tight in front of the chair and laid them in there.”
John Mills:
“They didn’t lay them down in there, they threw
them in there. I thought that was awful. The man had
‘done paid his penalty. A couple of the people didn’t like
it: They-groaned, ‘Aw, they didn’t have to do that.’”
Rev. Rosette: «**: {788
“The city had the hole dug, I’m the one who buried
them. It was one hole. I’m not gonna tell you it was two
hecause it wasn’t but one. And both of them were in the
hole.”
Talkin Thietlo ~wattin
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1985
odes tan bia ct INC A iE TE AE,
Faith Fontenot:
“The curious thing was the smoke. When I saw the
smoke, I had a-funny feeling, it was like: Here I am, a
Christian, witnessing the taking of a life — and condon-
ing it. I'll be frank with you. [had a very strange feeling, -
as if I was doing something my Lord wouldn’t want me
to do.
“It didn’t stay with me.”
John Mills:
“It was the most gruesome thing I ever thought of
watching .. . It’s just death itself.”
Ray Couvillion:
“Let me tell you something. I watched their fingers
curl. I saw the smoke. I saw them tense up. And when
they went limp, I wasn’t elated. It wasn’t something you
stand up and cheer about.
“J didn’t feel: Okay now, this thing has been settled.
Because I still lost a brother. Yes it was settled, but 1 |
still wasn’t satisfied. °
“In other wordsrthere wasn’t any way to get satisfac-
tion, if you understand what I’m sa¥ing.”
Geraldine:
“] wasn’t there that day. I was at my home. Of
coursé, I knew it had happened.
“Twas glad at the time. :
#But now, whenever they talk about executing some-
body, I don’t even want to hear about it. Sometimes
when they grant a stay of execution now, it’s like they’re
granting one to me. It’s not the ones being executed I
think of, it’s their families.”
Ray Couvillion:
“I have two brothers, and my mother and my father
that’s buried in Melville. They're buried in tombs above
ees ee ee
ae eee eee ee ee
gdeeatte
nO Pe
4
4
;
} wasirtU very Dig; Mayve ww Dy BET an i alana a
“The sheriff in his wisdom — so many people were
begging him to let him watch the execution that he ran
two shifts: £ : 5 at
“They set up.as many chairs as they could in the
room and then let people stand around, too.”
John Mills, one of seven Official. nsisdeestee
4,
witnesses: S520 AOS AAAS
" “You see, the sheriff and I were good friends. We
hunted together. He said, ‘When they execute those
guys, I want you as a witness.’ So that’s-how I become a
witness.” ey Pe » ie eae
Ray Couvillion:
specie
«. “Thad gotten a lot of my friends in. I was sitting right s
in front. Hf I could have slid a little bit, I could have
touched them on the knee.”,~_ Bee Se
or. ms Se re $
Lonnie Rogers, former state police
officer: coe.
| “I would say on ‘the courthouse square that there
were seven, eight hundred people . . .”
John Thistlewaite:
_. “Matthew was first. They brought him in, sat him
down. That executioner, he was the only card in the
thing. He kind of chatted with them as he strapped
them in. ; ee acd
-- “T hate to say that he made some semi-wisecracks —
“This is not gonna hurt’ — that may hot have been what
he said, but he made some little comments.”
Lonnie Rogers: : : oe FS
-“His name was Grady Jarratt..I knew him from
| different executions. : ;
“He always told them all: ‘Goodbye.’ I remember one
' fellow told him, ‘You know, you're going to hell for -
wats tanie
- ano ft ag) 7]
as hell. It’s gotta be hurting those fellows to have their
noses mashed like that.’”
Lonnie Rogers:
“That mask they put over to keep the eyes from
popping out.” aS ee
Rev. A.W. Rosette: ==>
“Let me tell you: When you’re in the death chair, you
have that cap on your head, that mask over your eyes,
those straps around your legs and wrist and chest, and
you hear that dynamo going outside, and you look
eas)
“] talked to them the whole time.
“Then, when that electricity hit, and the chair tilted
back, and they went unconscious, there was nothing
more I could say.”
John Thistlewaite:
“The most noteworthy thing of the whole occasion
was when he pulled that switch, he hollered, ‘Goodbye,
Matthew,’ and ‘Goodbye, Joe.’ :
“It was loud.
“ ‘Goodbye, Joe!”
“That’s the last thing Joe heard.”
Rev. Rosette:
“The boy had a little groan.”
Ray Couvillion:
“You could see him quiver. I was close enough to see
~ the muscles in the leg, you could see them tense all over,
veins in his neck, and so forth. And a little smoke from
under the edge of the helmet .. -”
John Mills:
“Saliva ran down from the man’s mouth, after they
around and see all those faces, let me tell you, that’s not
y.
“My duty was to stay there, and I sang a song, “I’m -
- Going Through.”
Po ee OE ROD P EE TE ETT
“They brought those coffins right in and put them
‘right in front of the chair and laid them in there.”
John Mills: . eer
“They didn’t lay them down in there, they threw
rsa in there. I thought that was awful. The man had
one paid his penalty. A couple of the people didn’t like
it: They groaned, ‘Aw, they didn’t have to do that.’”
Rev. Rosette: -
“The city had the hole dug, I’m the one who buried
-them. It was one hole. I’m not gonna tell you it was two
because it wasn’t but one. And both of them were in the
hole.” ; :
John Thistlewaite:
“Pam, my wife, she was working at the newspaper at
the time, she was all upset. They went’and got a little
bottle of liquor, and they had some shots ready for us
when we came out of there.
“I think a lot of people were probably sorry they
went up there. I don’t know what people wanted to
watch that for.” :
Rev. Rosette:
“It damaged (my) suit of clothes. That suit was
ruined. And. you know with what? With the odor from
this boy.
“J went to my house, took them clothes off.
“T even had to shave my hair.
~ ®Do you know it was more than a month before I
could sleep?”
John Thistlewaite:
“{ felt kind of wrung out. That’s the only one I ever
saw. I saw a lot of dead people in World War Il, I was a
pilot, but up until then I hadn’t seen anything like that.
It.didn’t make me sick or anything, but it was depress-
ing.”
EW FOU URAC WHEE TE BAI
> |
Geraldine:
“J wasn’t there that day. 1 was at my home. Of
course, I knew it had happened. re res
“I was glad at the time.
_ “But now, whenever they talk about executing some-...—
body, I don’t even want to hear about it. Sometimes
when they grant a stay of execution now, it’s like they're
granting one to me. It’s not the ones being executed I
think of, it’s their families.”
Ray Couvillion:
“J have two brothers, and my mother and my father
that’s buried in Melville. They’re buried in tombs above
the ground. And every year, in the month of October, I
go there and paint those graves. Every year. As long as I
live I'll see that the graves are taken care of. That’s my
brothers and that’s my mother and my father. They
were good to me. They saw that I got my share, and [ll
never forget it.”
Geraldine:
“Now, I’m against the death penalty.”
Ray Couvillion:
“I still would believe in capital punishment under
the same circumstances.”
‘Geraldine:
“] don’t think about them. I don’t hate them. I don’t
have any ill feelings right now.
“Tt took a long time.” ‘
Ray Couvillion:
_ “Time heals everything, to a certain extent.”
Geraldine: : r
“No. It didn’t heal anything.” - ;
Ce
til [knew what the world was . . . Goodbye old cruel world.”" —
2ithede st
apo
+
see
area
wi dapsederesv erat
we Reeee ee eeeees £Ee es)
tidbane
ee
i
Se ee a
COOPER, Cleve, black, 38, hanged Shreveport, La., Feb. 8, 1935.
"NEGRO KILLER TO DIE ON GALLOWS AT NOON: CLEVEL COOPER, ACQUITTED OF SLAY-
ING IN TEXAS, CALMLY AWAITS EXECUTION FOR DOUBLE CRIME IN CADDO: Cleve
Cooper, negro, says he will meet death on the gallows in the courthouse
jell at-noon today singing a religious song. When the state of Louisiana
is paid for the killing bast summer of two nervroes during 6 party, the
meek 38-year-old black will sing ‘There Is Jovy in That Land Wher T am |
Bound.', He: expressed that intention Thursday nicht after refusing Jai-
ler Joe Leslie's offer of'anything. you want! to eat. .'I just. wants: to
be alone and vray, boss,' Cleve ssid as he warmly thanked him. ' feels
like I'm saved." The.condemned'man has spent the last several days
reading a small Bible. ‘tI will be waiting st the beauty full gate in
Heaven,!' he wrote Thursday night in his cell on the eichth floor of the
Caddo parish jail. The note was left to be given to members of a local ©
regligious group who have talked to the necro Since he was sentenced |
shortly before Christmas,
"SORRY HE ATTACKED LAWYER,
"The negro blames his courtoom attack on his attorney, John Phillips,
upon 'those spells.' Immediately upon hearing his death sentence pro-
nounced in district court here, the black lunged forward and struck the
lawyer behind the ear. '‘'I just went crazy, that's all,' he explained.
Whiskey caused the double killing in a negro amusement parlor near the
Texas state line on the Greenwood read last summer the negro maintains,
Ben Thomas and J. Hollis, the former negro mortally wounded by a pistol
bullet and the latter felled and killed by an ironing board, had both
incurred the condemned man's enmity, he admits. But if they had not
stopped him that summer night as he went to get medicine for his sick
wife the crime would never have been committed, he believes. A dice
game ensued which resulted, Cleve said, in 'dirty' words being spoken
against his wife. 'Bee and Hillis had gotten me drunk on purpose, and
I just do,'t know why I ewer did that crime,' the negro tearfully said
Thursday. ‘Since then I've had those spells, I had one the day before
the trial. I just don't know why I hit Mr. Phillips.' fhe dramatic
highlight to the trial threw the courtroom into a confusion that had never
been seen in Shrevport. Depnuty sheriffs and bystanders 911 swarmed
down upon the black, subduing him. Excitement wes highk for several
minutes, Cooper, who says he once killed s negro in Texas, but was tried
and acquitted, was visited by a negro minister Thursday morning. Their
prayers and songs were heard throuechout the jail, The negro's room, the
death cell, is just s few feet from the callows, but the steel wall of
the cell prevents him from seeing the hangman's rope as it is stretched
each night by the ?rooping of an attached sand bag through the trap.
Through those doors 6leve was drop at high noon today to bring to eight
the hanging list for the new parish jail. His predecessors were D, F,
Napier, alias Fred Lockhart; Boris Tollett and E].L. Patterson, white
men, and Felix Duhart, Bennie White, Samson Carter and Henrity Lewis,
megroes." TIMES, Shreveport, La., Feb. 8, 1935, page one.
"NGEGRO HANGED FOR SLAYING TWO FOES: CLEVE COOPER FORFEITS LIFE TO STATE
AS PENALTY FOR CADDO KILLINGS; Cleve Cooper, 38, negro killer of three
men, kept his promise to go to his hanging with a séng on his lips. At
12:1h p.m. Friday he was led from his cell on the eighth floor of the
courthouse to pay for taking the lives of two negroes killed at a party
last summer. His face frozen, his eyes fearful, he glanced toward wit-~
nesses and newspaper men gathered on the eighth floor, Then, his hands
cuffed to his back, the condemned man was tied about the ankles, knees
and arms, 'No more sorrow in that land where ah'm bound,! the black
chanted, with lifted head. 'No more sorror - ' The executioner pulled
the black hepd over Cooper's head, The lever was pulled, the trep sprung
n, and th dro dq ‘
vo Burses, waiting on Ehe seventh Packs sawERe solv Persons eis didi pR.
i ee a eer
trap. Parish Coroner Willis P. Butler pronounced the negro dead ly minutes
later. His neck was broken. After partaking of the usual jail breakfast -
fried bacon, coffee, syrup and grits - Barly Friday morning, the negro
heard his death warrant read by Sheriff T. R. Hughes at 11 a.m. ‘When
Jailer Joe Leslie asked Cooper several minutes later what he would like
for his last meal, he requested corn bread and buttermilk. The quart of
milk and pan of bread offered was nearly all eaten, The morning was [/
spent in, compeny of two negro Baptist preachers. “One stood with his’
Bible open a few feet from the metal trap as the yegro took his place —
upon it. Official witnmsses to the hanging were: Dr. Harry Paul, D.' &,
Cupples, A. J. Gaurltn, Camille Joseph, F. M. Christianson, C, RB, Will-
iams and William Cobb, The negro's body clothed in. grav pants and vest,
the pants patched but well-creased, and a blue shirt - was lowered into
a straw casket’ at 12:30 and taken toa negro undertsking parlor, It was
aoe eighth hanging in the new Caddo parish jail and the executioner!s
esthgrnc! ped 3 ; Giide ,
TIMES, Shrevevort, La,, 2-9-1935 (1-1)
or nm
I "9
28
window, he said, ‘““Wrap yourself up and get in here. How
do you feel?” ;
Meyer had ‘started the car heater whirring, and the
youth was helped to a seat in front of it. “Not too tough,”
he said. “But... Id like to'get... that guy.”
Meyer threw the car into gear. “Take it easy,” he
cautioned. “We'll get him. What you need right now is
a doctor.” : }
When they started up, the youth identified himself as
Charles McSorley, 21, of Detroit, Michigan. As the car
raced toward New Orleans, he told them his story, in
fragments, seeming to revive in the heater’s warmth.
A paratrooper in World War II, he had left his Detroit
home a couple of days before to take a job in New Orleans,
hitchhiking all the way.
A motorist had carried him into Pearlington, where he
had stood by the roadside for quite some time before a
thin, dark-featured man about thirty came along in a
gray Plymouth, ‘stopped and said he was, going to New
Orleans. ‘
“T got in and we rode only a short distance,” McSorley
went on, “but in that time I had told: him about, being
‘just out of the service. I guess he figured I had money.
Anyway, when we got to those woods south of Pearlington,
he suddenly halted the car and told me to get out.
“ ‘This is the end of the line,’ he said, producing. a pistol.
‘Don’t make any fuss.’ ” i
McSorley said he was marched about 300 yards into
the wood and then ordered to remove his clothing. As he
did this, the man directed him to toss the clothes, garment
by garment, at his captor.
“He went through my pockets and took all my belong-
ings,” the paratrooper moaned. “I just stood there shiver-
ing, not able to do a thing.” : ,
“How'd you get shot?” Parks demanded.
McSorley said he resented the humiliating treatment
and when the. bandit relaxed his guard, McSorley had
lunged at the other man. “He fired a shot that missed
me,” the paratrooper went on, “so I knew he meant
business.” a
The victim added that he turned and ran, whereupon
the robber fired two more shots, both of which. struck
McSorley. ae
The youth was fairly well-spent from telling his story, .
and the two salesmen urged him to save his strength.
“There are a couple of more things I want to tell you,”
McSorley insisted on revealing. “There was a sticker of
some kind on the rear window of that Plymouth... it
looked like a college pennant.” . é
“That’s good,” Meyer said. “It ought to help the: cops
find that rat.”
“Yeah...” McSorley said, breathing with difficulty now.
“Another thing. . . I don’t think that guy was going to
_. . New Orleans. He seemed... like some local fella.”
“You mean, someone from around Pearlington?”
“Yeah.”
McSorley, thoroughly exhausted now,, slumped back
against the seat. But as the salesmen’s car neared the
Charity Hospital in New Orleans, he suddenly revived.
“Tell the cops... .” he managed to gasp, “that... fella
is a... tough guy. Hesaid... after shooting me .
‘That'll take. care of. you... 80 you won’t talk .. . like
the others.’ ”’ >
Parks whistled. “You think, then, he’s held up other
people?”
McSorley nodded. “I think. .. that’s what he meant.”
The receiving entrance of Charity. Hospital was reached
just in time. The youth was unconscious when an interne
arrived at his side, and-he was rushed into, the operating
room in serious condition from the wound in his back.
Meyer and Parks told their story to the hospital people,
’
‘a
%
The killer shows evidence of the battle in which the
salesmen-sleuths over-powered him seconds after h Sheriff ("Doc"
shot and killed a policeman in a cold, ruthless rampage: jana authoritie
‘ $s
) formation that,
and Parks
is at Pearl-
’ backtrack.
tations and
the bandit’s
, but they
vould_admit
mm, the pair
-efreshment
uilding said
white coat
or, and he
en put their
lymouth in
e answered
‘but I don’t
fore like a
is a_ school
w. I know
r with the
iting in the
n. “Yeah?”
bs dineber 2
rar belongs
3 to an out-
rer went to
10ol. He’s
life.” +
rleans men
{ that Jesse
udn’t have
if they had
r the clerk.
yncede that
2 a mistake
‘ar. A tan
might look
f minutes, :
that Saun-
of Gaines-
‘her impor-
Gainesville
which the
ding before
oper. ,
their . next
ly possible
out his as-
i man was
saw it, he
2 dirt road,
veaded for
feyer told
' Saunders’
t Plymouth
1 we ought
good sus-
id. “Turn
e pair was
y towards
sannes had
. report. on
»m McSor-
ived it, the
th satisfac-
and called
> man here
‘ revolver,”
“and that
n stolen in
sults. from
rr
_ with him right away,”
“Nothing | ‘definite,”’. the -
County. officer replied: “But I’ve been
going through our files, trying: to
match it up. I.found’a fellow named. “te
Davis who seems to fill the bill.”’ s
“Who’s Davis? . The name sounds.
familiar,” fags
“A real bad hombre who was sup-
posed to be going straight. His full
handle, as I’ve got it, is George’A.
Davis, but he’s apt to be: known under: |
any other name if he’s in trouble,” :
The sheriff went ons to say that ~
Davis had served «terms in ‘Chilli-
cothe, Mo., Lewisbtirg,: Pa., and
Leavenworth, mostly ‘on charges: of.
extortion, threats by mail, and Dyer
Act. violations. ‘ ‘ ete
“But he’s never: been known: to
carry a gun or resort to burglary,”
Scholl added, “so I could be'wrong.”
“Where’s Davis now?” FRY
““He’s supposed to have gone to San.
Antonio to look up a new job. Funny .
thing about it, he left town on the
day of the attempted safe job at the
Dittlinger Mills.” ‘
It was the mention of San Antonio.
that caused something’ to click in
Lannes’ mind. Telling ‘the sheriff. to:
hold the wire, he consulted his records ~
and came back to the. phone almost
nee “FRG Bie eo ei,
“I thought the name. Davis was .
familiar,” he told the sheriff. “San
Antonio wants a fellow named Rob~
ert L. Davis for car theft last March.
te
He jumtped a $500. bond: Think it
could be the same -guy?” ‘
“Could ‘be. But I’m trying to con-
nect George A. Davis with that Ditt::
linger job. If I have any luck in the
next few hours, you’ll hear from me.” °-
When Scholl hung up, Lannes tried
to find a ie of George A. Davis «'
or Robert L. Davis in his own files, but
he had no ‘luck. Apparently ‘this
criminal, if he -was: the same man,
had never been arrested in Louisiana.
Reports kept coming in from the
cruiser cars and the officers of the,
highway patrols, and ‘all were dis- ~
couraging. The right machine had:
still not been foun Cel ; eg
In the interim, Meyer and Parks .
succeeded in arriving at Gainesville
and in locating the home: of Jesse
Saunders. But they saw no car around
the place. Seated in their own ma-
chine outside the house, the’ pair de-~
‘cided that one of them should pose
as a friend of Jesse and make -in-
quiries,. s tect
Meyer, since he was the instigator .
of the hunt, elected himself to do this, :
He rang the bell and ‘asked a: young:
woman for Saunders. She said: he
wasn’t home and hadn’t been since |
‘ noon, when he took his brother’s car
and left for Pearlington. ae
The salesman-sleuth-was somewhat
taken back by this frank disclosure of.
Jesse Saunders’ itinerary for he
realized it fitted itt with ‘the: armed
bandit’s.’ Concealing: his feelings, he
asked the young lady where Jesse
might be found. ‘ -
“It’s important that I get in touch
eyer con-
tinued. “Know where he is now?”
5 gene girl colored. It was easy to
see that the question flustered her.
“I—I don’t know,” she stammered,
“unless it’s at one of those places
along the highway.” .
Because of her embarrassment,
Meyer sensed that she was referring
to a roadhouse, at the same time in-
ferring that Jesse was in the habit of
frequenting such places. But when.
the salesman pressed her further, she
‘. The. barman — shrugged.
I’ve ever seen him with
on your way down
wr
_“You think Saunders might have
* Meyer nodded. “Yeah. We were —
just. up: to his place in. Gainesville.
They told us:we might find him here.”
-“T don’t
know why,” he said: “d esse ain’t been
‘around here in weeks.”
“But he was here- today?” Meyer .
persisted.
~ “Yéah, that’s right. Not. more’n
fifteen minutes ago. Hey, is that lad
in-trouble?” Pcie 4
‘Meyer looked at Parks, both sensing
they had reached the climax in their :
investigation. The answer, they knew,
could be important. ~ ’ 1
“Could. be,” Meyer answered non-
committally.. “Why?” vet 2
- “By the. way he: gulved ‘down a
couple of quick drinks and ‘lit outa
here.. He had more dough, -too, than
The salesmen visibly stiffened at
this, thinking of McSorley’s $120. A
well-heeled man who was- acting
nervously fitted in with their idea of
the paratrooper’s: assailant, 4
“Which way did he go?” Meyer -
wanted to know. . Bie
-., The barman. shrugged.‘ ' “I didn’t
exactly see. But if you didn’t pass him
from Gainesville, :-.
he must have’ ‘headed’-toward | New :
Orleans.” NE eae f
That sounded logical. The two sales-
men deliberated their next move, then
‘decided it was high time they made
their discovery known to Lannes.
Meyer called him from the tavern.
“What the heck’s going on?” the
detective captain stormed. “I told you
fellows to get in here and sign some
statements.’
Meyer told him what they had been
doing. “It was just because we were
mad over the way that kid McSorley
was treated,” he added. “I think we
have something hot.” —
Lannes sounded surprised, since his
previous experience with amateur de-
t
Meyer didn’t know.
adaches, “ .
« “What did you find out?” he asked
lowly.
“Why?” he
asked,
«“T’ve turned up something myself,”
. the detective chief replied. “But never
mind that. My dope could be all wet.
You boys appear to have something,
-however. I'll shoot out word to have
Saunders picked up. But listen—”
©) “Yes, sir,” said Meyer courteously.
.)“I'want you and Parks to keep clear
of this from now on. You're apt to
get hurt—or worse, get in somebody’s
way. Come back hergeand sign those
statements.”
Meyer felt properly dressed down,
_though he was certain. Lannes was
only acting hard-boiled because he
didn’t’ want any interference with
police activities, nor did he want well-
meaning citizens hurt by crossing
paths with. a killer. “Sure, right
away,” he said, hanging ‘up..
-° He’ walked back to where Parks
“was waiting. “We'll go back,” he told
his companion, “just like I told Lannes
we would. But that won’t prevent us
“yoo keeping an eye. peeled for Saun-
ers.”
'. A few minutes later, their big sedan
was speeding toward New Orleans.
“While they were on ‘their way,
Scholl called Lannes. “I got. a new
angle on Davis,” the sheriff said. “I
-checked him further. Now it seems
he was planning a-trip to Mexico:in
connection with an oil job. Once he
said the best way to’get there was to
take’a boat from. New Orleans. Of
-course, we don’t khow if-he did.”
. Lannes’ interest in Davis quickened.
“If he’s. our. man,” he answered,
“there’d hardly be time for that. Any-
way, things pon point in his di-
rection. Davis could have stolen that
car, headed this way, and then robbed
McSorley for passage money after that
safe. cracking job in New Braunfels
flo
‘fellow named Saunders?” -
Scholl said the name was fairly
common; but he couldn’t recall any.
particular Saunders. Lannes told him
about the discovery of the salesmen,
the -Plymouth car, rear window
sticker, cash in the man’s possession,
his-two quick drinks. .
. Say,” the sheriff spoke up quickly,
“he sounds like a better bet for you
than Davis. Everything seems to fit.
But I’m still interested in George A.
—or whatever name he’s going under
- now—so if you hear anything, be sure
to let me know.”
- Lannes said he would, and hung up.
He was. inclined to agree with
Scholl’s final remark that there wasn’t
too much evidence linking Davis with
any recent crime. At the same time,
Lannes knew that the case against
Saunders—if one existed—could be
a combination of coincidences. Never-
theless, he ordered the radio. dis-
Ppatcher to send out an alarm for the
Gainesville man. ,
As THIS was being done; Meyer
.and Parks were racing down
Highway 90 hoping to catch a glimpse
of Jesse Saunders and the window-
stickered Plymouth. They were near-
ing the Mississippi-Louisiana border
dik 7 ES Te en
ctives: led: him to expect nothing but.
pped. By the way, ever hear of a_
4|
Se
a Se
TeOR aE.
Robert Meyer, the’salesman who played a dramatic part’
in capturing the vicious cop-killer.
: Franklin Parks, his
-. partner, helped subdue the slayer after a reckless chase.
thi
he Sheriff ("Doc") Scholl. provided Louis-
iana authorities. with some interesting. in-
formation that led to the killer's identity. .
re battle in ig
cold, ruthles
who te they vould notity the ‘city police immediately,
“Tet us-talk to somebody: at headquarters, it Meyer said.
“We know the whole story.”
- Captain Frank Lannes, acting chief of the New Orleans
. + detectives,: was the officer eventually reached, and after
© -the: hospital’ director had ‘reported. receiving a wounded
‘man, Meyer was ‘put on the :phone. :
He identified himself. and! his friend Parks. Then he
-. gave Lannes a complete vérsion of the shooting, as related
by ‘“McSorley,: adding* his. own account of how he and
» Parks had happened to find the holdup victim.
'“That’s a new twist on the old hitchhike yarn,” Lannes
came back. “In this case, the hitchhiker got shot. He
says that’ bandit is a tough guy?"
“That’s right.”
o> “Let ome ‘havea description of.that man and his car.
We'll Nema some of the: ae out of him if we. get
phim, aed saat Se g
>
wee Meyemthad finistied, Navies told him to report
at’ headquarters “with: Parks and sign a statement.
_ « “We'll be along se the salesman told the. acting
detective chief.
Parks, who had beet standing at the other’s elbow,
looked. puzzled - as Meyer cradled the receiver. ‘What
Bh ‘do: you Shae later?" he queried. “We'll go se down
+ there.”
Meyer shook his head: a hudden determinatinl, glinting
in his eyes. “I got a better idea,” he said.
_“What’s that?” Parks, from long association with his -
fast-thinking fellow salesman, suddenly became curious.
; Meyer explained. ‘That’s a nice kid who was shot up
“by a’rat,” he said. “I feel like it was done to me per-
sonally. We might go back ce lide on page 40)
Charles McSorley, World War Il hero paratrooper, remained con-
scious long enough to give sleuths a vivid account of the shooting.
——————_ a
‘complete
4 DETECTIVE
there and get a line on that car...
The highway cops will be swarming
over that area in a few minutes.
Parks threw up his hands. “Listen!
They’ll find that guy if he’s still
around. What we might. be able to
do, they can do better.” aie
Meyer kept shaking his head, “I
” feel that I’ve got a personal stake in
this. Besides, who’s got a better idea
of what that bandit and his car look
like than we do.” ~* é
’ Parks was forced to agree that
MecSorley had given them a fairly
graphic over-all picture. “Yeah,” he
conceded, “but .. .”
“There ain’t any but’s if you’d like
to get your hands around that slimy
bird’s neck.” :
‘Parks shrugged. “I still don’t think
we should interfere. But get going.
I’m. in.” ;
Thus, on a cloud-ridden afternoon
in mid-winter, two gadget salesmen
started as amateur detectives on a
manhunt—but .with a startlingly dif-
ferent ending. Whereas most amateur
sleuths bog down by reason of their
own inexperience and _ inefficiency,
Meyer and Parks were destined to
become vital factors in the case, right
up to and including its denouement. .
As their big sedan raced ‘back up»
Highway 90 toward . Pearlington, °
Meyer outlined a plan. ag
ell start south of where
picked McSorley up,” he told Parks,
“and try to find out whether anybody
saw that Plymouth with the pennant
sticker on its rear window.”
Parks thought the idea was okay.
“Don’t forget what McSorley said
about the bandit maybe. being a local
guy,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Captain Lannes. had —
acted to trap the brutal bandit. After
alerting members of his own staff and
the Louisiana and Mississippi high-
way patrols, he began combing
through the bureau’s wanted notices.
For some reason, a gray Plymouth
car rang a bell in the back of his —
mind. ’
After fifteen minutes of searching,
he found a notice that had been’ for- ~
warded to the department from New
Braunfels, Texas. After scanning this ——
he sent one of his detectives to Char- :
ity Hospital to find out from McSor-,
ley, the moment the youth was able’ a
to talk, whether his assailant
been driving a 1935 machine.
Within an hour the officer-was back.
“That’s right, chief,” he said. “Mc-
Sorley says it was a jalopy, around
that year. By the way, the doctors
dug two slugs out of him.: Here they
are ” S
He laid two perfectly formed pel- .
lets on Lannes’ desk, adding, “The
kid’s in bad shape, according to the -
doctor. This could be a murder.” -
Lannes buzzed the identification ©
bureau, then reached for his phone
and put in a long distance call to
Sheriff W. E. “Doc” Scholl of Comal
we ~
volved in a shooting here this after-
noon. Any idea who stole it?”
Scholl said he, hadn’t. “But we're
anxious to find out,” he added. “We
suspect the same thief was mixed up
- ‘an attempted $10,000 robbery
ere.” = {
He gave Lannes the particulars. On
January 17, the knob of a safe in the
‘Dittlinger Mills at New Braunfels was
knocked off by a robber who was
frightened off before he could get the
payroll inside.
In escaping, the thief made off with
a 1935 Plymouth sedan belonging to
a New Braunfels resident who was
working at the mill.
Although he had failed to crack the
safe, the burglar had searched the
office, finding a .32-caliber revolver
and a small amount of money. He
took both. Since the man hadn’t been
seen, his description. wasn’t available.
’ “I may have something on that for
you,” Lannes” said when the sheriff
had finished, “provided you and I are
looking for the same fellow. The man -
who was driving a gray Plymouth
here today was about thirty, tall and
thin, with dark, curly’ hair and‘ a
sallow _complexion. ow ,who fits
that?” mS :
' “Not offhand,” the sheriff replied,
“but I’ll do some checking. you
catch up with that machine or hear
anything further, let me know.”
“Sure. Make it two-way,” the New
Orleans detective chief added, hang-
ing up.
While this conversation was going
on, a dozen cruiser cars of the New
Orleans police and the Louisiana and
Mississippi highway patrols were at-
tempting to intercept McSorley’s as-
sailant. : :
Gray cars were halted at city inter-
sections and rural -crossroads, espe-
‘cially all Plymouths and particularly
those with. stickers on the rear win-
dow. But in no case did the driver
resemble the wanted man, as de-
scribed by McSorley. :
County, Texas, who had sent out the eg
circular on the stolen car. .
“I may have some dope for you on
that gray Plymouth stolen at New
Braunfels,” he told Scholl. “A car. .
40 answering that description..was -in-
‘
\ that-description I gave you?”
AMATEUR SLEUTHS
(Continued from page 29)
Le EET ET TERETE LRT TOIT
AN hour later, Meyer and Parks
had reached the woods at Pearl-
ington and had ‘started to backtrack.
They stopped at filling stations and
garages, logical places for the bandit’s
machine to -have halted, but they
couldn’t find anyone who would admit
having seen the car.
Three miles farther down, the pair
drew up before a small refreshment
stand. A sign above the building said
“Hot Dogs.” A youth in a white coat
stood behind the counter, and he
frowned as the two salesmen put their
questions.
“Sure, there was a Plymouth in
here about an hour ago,” he answered
after due contemplation, “but I don’t
know as it was gray. More like a
dirty tan, I’d say. It has a school
sticker on the rear window. I know
because I’m quite familiar with the
machine.”
Excitement began mounting in the
hearts of the two salesmen. “Yeah?”
Meyer said. “Who was in it?” j
“Jesse Saunders. The car belongs
to his kid brother who goes to an out-
of-town school. Jesse never went to
anything but reform school. He’s
been in hot water all his life.”
The pulses of the New Orleans men
beat faster as they learned that Jesse
Saunders’ description couldn’t have
been closer to the bandit if they had
drawn a picture of him for the clerk.
They were willing to concede that
McSorley might have made a mistake
about the color of the car. A tan
machine covered with dust might look
gray.
In the next couple of minutes,
. Meyer and Parks learned that Saun-
ders lived near the ‘town of Gaines-
ville, and this seemed another impor-
tant point against the man. Gainesville
was on Route 90, over which the
armed bandit had come riding before
she picked-up the paratrooper.
The salesmen debated their next
move. It seemed entirely possible
that McSorley’s hunch about his as-
sailant having been a local man was
being borne out. As they saw it, he
might have swung up some dirt road,
cut back north, and headed for
Gainesville. ; ;
“The thing to do,” Meyer told
Parks, “is for us to locate Saunders’
house and see whether that Plymouth
ear is around. If it is, then we ought
to notify the cops he’s a good sus-
pect.”
“You bet,” Parks
around.”
A few minutes later, the pair was
speeding up the highway towards
Gainesville.
Back in New Orleans, Lannes had
been anxiously awaiting a report on
| the two slugs removed from McSor-
ley’s body. When he received it, the
| detective chief grunted with satisfac-
| tion, uncradled his phone, and called
Scholl again. a
‘ve just discovered our man here
; was shot with a .32 caliber revolver,”
said. “Turn
"he told the ‘Texas sheriff, “and that
ties in with the type of gun stolen in
‘New Braunfels, Any results’ from
q Co
ig
3
ae
535-3
Se = z 2
rae
=z tgi=
eet, 3
300 The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
at the beginning of the dispute between said Degout and Crette}.
having arrived, he heard Degout say that he wanted to kill two or
three and also a snotty official of justice, that he would escape any-
where on the Spanish side; that the next day the said Degout told
him that he wished to make him earn a pistole without telling him -
how. Later on Dudoit sent Degout to Sr. Lemer’s for a bottle of
wine, and he came back without it, because Lemer would not give it
to him without a note of said Degout. The latter gave him one, and
he returned to the said Lemer and passed through a breach which he
made by taking down two rails. The said Degout had a quarrel
with Lemer. He afterwards came back to Crette’s with whom he
quarreled and then went to Pierre Darbanne’s and returned with a
sculpter’s tool. On entering he saw Laplaine who was leaving and
said to him: ‘What do you mean? Are you taking up for Crette
and Lemer?” raising his hand as if he intended to stab said Laplaine.
The witness and Sr. Darbanne cried out: ‘‘Wretch, what are you
going to do?” and that stopped him. Afterwards Baptiste Lemoine
tried to speak and Degout tried to do the same, but he took to his
heels; he afterwards left but previously Cratte threw him down and
said to him: “Wretch, you want to kill everybody in my house?”
While Crette was holding him on a chest Baptiste Lemoine tried to
wrest from him the chisel he held in his hand, but only the handle
remained while the chisel fell unperceived behind the chest. After-
wards having gone to Sr. Darbanne’s he called Cratte, and the wit:
ness said to the said Cratte ‘take a cudjel with you” and he answered;
“Do you believe that I do not intend to act?’ and at the same mo
ment he saw Crette make a movement as if he was taking his dagger,
without, however, having seen him take it; that Crette, nevertheless,
hesitated to decide whether he would follow him or not; that having
followed him, the witness a moment afterwards heard the Darbanne
woman scream, and immediately witness ran out and found Crette
returning and he said to him: “Are you wounded,” but he did not
answer, and, he, the witness, began to run after the said Degout
whom he could not find;—-which, he said, was all he has to say, oy %
After reading to him his testimony he declared that it is the truth
and persisted therein and refused pay and signed. One word rejected
on the other page noted and approved Delaplaine’s name at his wish |
Signed: ‘Pierre Saurelle alias Marly.”
Signed: ‘Pain.’ Signed: “Henry Gradrat,’’ Clerk of Court,
Sc
Janu:
aged ;
and i!
of the
day:
Attor:
that <
witnes
at his
brandi
me he:
wilnes
for thi
return:
send n
return.
mMyineg
having
and pe
Si:
Si:
4
Janua:
toches,
after b:
connec!
notice |
King, :
mentio
which \
brouch:
wished
wife of
hens if
tyon an:
~ tem he
end de:
accord:
Sic;
Sip
udges and ac-
| « e, whose
ect the fixing
| matters. It
Cotterets of
by its general
ie trial. The
ices verbal of
ommissaire,”’
rogating the
al. The un-
‘an oath to
ven the con-
of perjuring
vitnesses and
to make his
the witness)
not received
ed was not
this inquiry
es assembled
fate, and he
itness stand.
eon. If the
‘he accused,
ital of-
i ut still
iterlocutory
e-examined
nterrogated
‘ded to the
‘ions which
eparatory”’
eliminary”’
' before the
‘question’’)
his accom-
iplices.
or a defen-
exceptional
Cabildo Archives 299
cases, where was involved questions which necessitated legal learning,
such as embezzlement, fraudulent bankruptcy, and forgery.
Louis XVI abolished the “preparatory” torture in 1780 and the
“preliminary” torture in 1783.
The record as here presented is composed of the following docu-
ments which are printed in translation made primarily by Mrs. H. H.
Cruzat, but other hands have assisted in it. The Original text is also
printed following the translations.
1. Proces verbal of investigation before Judge Pain at Natchi-
toches, January 2, 1766, containing deposition of Pierre Francois
Dudcit; Michel Bruniau, called La Rochelle; Pierre Darbanne,
Marie Leclerc, wife of Pierre Darbanne, Jeanne, negress slave of the
last two. |
2. Proceedings before Superior Council of Louisiana, contain-
ing confrontation of Michel Degout and Marie Leclerc Darbanne
before Judge Charles Marin de la Lande D’Appremont, reexamina-
tion of the latter before same judge, and interrogation of Michel
Degout before Judge Denis Nicholas Foucault, First Judge of the
Superior Council.
3. Minutes of the hearing before the full Council and judgment
rendered February 1, 1766, condemning the accused to death, and
amendment to said judgment and certificate of the execution of the
sentence, which it would seem was immediately after the judgment
was rendered.
FIRST HEARING
Pain. Investigation before me, Daniel Pain, sub-
January 2, 1766. delegate of the Commissaire Ordonnateur, acting
Information Judge at the post of Natchitoches, in virtue of the
against Degout. order of the Superior Council of the province of
Louisiana, dated ninth of last November, on peti-
tion of the Attorney General of the King to the Superior Council,
against one Michel Degout, incarcerated in the royal prisons in New
Orleans, which inquiry was conducted as follows:
January 2, 1766. Appeared before us Pierre Saurelle, called
Marty, blacksmith, residing at the post of
Natchitoches, aged about thirty-four years, who after having been
sworn to speak the truth, and that he is neither a relative nor servant
of the parties, and has appeared in response to notice given him by us;
Testifies on the facts mentioned in the complaint of the Attorney
General of the King, which was read to him, that he was not present
j - Cabildo Archives 301 I
OER rette;
kill two or
escape any-
‘egout told
telling him
a bottle of
| not give it
im one, and
h which he,
| a quarrel
i whom he
ned with a
aving and
» for Crette
d Laplaine,
it are you
Appeared before us Pierre Francois Dudoit,
trainer of parroquets, residing in this post, % 3
aged about thirty-one years, who, after being sworn to tell the truth Pea tee ory
_ wad that he is neither a relative, connection, attendant nor servant
af the partics, returned to us fis notice to appear served on him this
tay: Testifying on the facts mentioned in the complaint of the
Attorney General of the King which was read to him, he declared
that after having gone to a pleasure party at La Rochelle’s the
witness after dinner invited him to come and drink a pitcher ol wine
@ w his home; passing before Cratte’s house he presented them a
-@ *andied pear ina glass; La Rochelle said to the witness: “You brought
® where to drink a pitcher of wine, well, then, send for some.” The
@ witness asked the company which of them would be willing to go
- fee the pitcher of wine at Sr. Lemer’s. Degout offered and went;
“@ tuning from Sr. Lemer’s he told witness that Sr. Lemer would |
a wad nothing without a note from witness. He made one and Degout roy.
» January 2, 1766.
his dagger,
vertheless,
hat having
Darbanne
ind Crette
he did not
id Degout
is to say,
the truth
id rejected
i his wish.
f Court.
ie Lemoine , :; ' ; ; :
de ko il eeturned to Lemer’s for the pitcher of wine, but came back without it, bogs
i . Ss j s . . . : « ‘hee Pry
down fer @ying that Lemer would not give any, which is all he said. After chien a5
oh ree laving heard his testimony read to him he said that it was the truth : mae |)
\y house; eae a _ “tog it bet
Spee @ owe persisted in it and refused pay and signed. So bana
ne tried to a ss OD adoie.” Fade ame
Be hn ait @ Signed: “Dudoit. of styl) Sng
. e a ms 66 ° ” med ce . ‘ ” ye
t A fter Signed: ‘‘Pain.’’ Signed: ‘Henry Gardrat, Greffier. eat re
id the wit- i ‘
i ccrannil ® January 2, 1766. Appeared before us Afichel Bruniau, so-called
ee La Rochelle, residing in this post of Natchi-
“teches, a merchant, aged twenty-eight years or thereabouts, who,
after being sworn to tell the truth and that he is neither arelative, a
gonnection, an attendant nor a servant of the parties, produced his
notice to appear to testify on petition of the Attorney General of the
King, to the Superior Council, on this day: Testifies on the fact
mentioned in the complaint of the said Attorney General of the King
which was read to him, that on the ninth of October last said Dudoit
brought the witness to one Crette’s whom he did not. know; who
wished him good evening and offered him a brandied pear which the
wife of the said Crette put in a glass; that Sr. Turpin asked the wit-
ness if he would take supper with him, that he accepted the invita-
tion and that they left with Francois. This testimony being read to
him he declared and maintained that it was the truth, refused pay
and declared that he did not know how to write, all of which is in
accordance with the ordinance.
Signed: ‘Pain.”’
Signed: ‘Henry Gardrat, Clerk of the Council.”
The Louisiana Historical Quarterly
January 2, 1766. Also appeared reside us Pierre Darbanne, ®
farmer-of Natchit a
thirty-five years, who, after being sworn to saa the truth, and that
he is neither a relative, nor a connection, attendant nor servant of |
the accused, produced the notice to appear served on him, on petition #
of the Attorney General of the King, to the Superior Council of the ®
province of Louisiana, dated this day: :
in the complaint of the said Attorney General of the King, whid §
was read to him, that on the ninth of last October
house of one Cratte, the latter was in a dispute with Dudoit for wing 4 4
which one Degout had not been able to procure from Lemer.
then said that they must send Degout back again.
“Believe me, leave it yonder, a misfortune will come of it;” 4
upon Cratte got the bottle of wine, and as he entered threw the hotte 9
“See, here is the wine; go for another #
“Tam going” and pase 3
¢c residing, aged
Testifies on the fact mentioned #
he entered the #
The latter said;
of wine in the place saying:
bottle,’” Degout left on the moment saying:
ing before the hired man of Lannal, also named Laplaine and L.emoing, |
they said that Degout had not gone to Lemer’s for the wine and that #
he had not asked for it; Degout said to Laplaine: 4
meddle in it?’ and Laplaine answered ‘‘Yes’; Degout immediately #
drew forth a weapon to stab him, but he could not tell what it was
Crette having then stopped him threw him on a chest. :
having left him, Degout rose, and Lemoine who was outside of the |
‘‘Wretch, you use a weapon?”’ 4
Lemoine took refuge at Monard’s and @
Degout retired to the witness’ house where he lodged. Crette fae #
lowed him and a while after they heard cries and they ran, certais #
that Degout and Cratte were fighting, and in going to see they saw #
Cratte who was coming back with a bruised arm and they perceive | .
that he was wounded and therefore he went to his house. :
The witness then returned to Crette’s and sav #
him expire, which was all that he knew, which testimony having beea |
read to him, he said that it was the truth and so persisted, refused |
pay and declared that he did not know how to write nor sign, |
accordance with the ordinance.
The witness added that the said Degout swearing and cursing,
told one Marty that he would make him earn ten livres. The}
above read to him was said to contain the truth and he persisted if :
it and declared that he could not read nor sign in accordance with the | a
ording ance. :
“Do you want ¢
house said to him: and Degout rushed
at Lemoine to stab him.
see Degout again.
“Henry Gardrat, Clerk of the Council.
January |
twenty-nin
truth, dec]:
vant of th:
on petition
Testifies o:
General of
that on the
Degout cai
tell her wh.
and as she :
his head an
and as the
looked out «
there? Is i
Cratte, wh:
half of his hs
then extenc
he had in hi:
went back
that Degou'
against the
was all thai
staid that it
does not kn
Signed:
Signed:
January 2,
thirty-two y:
truth and th
wTvant of th
her on petiti
Council of t)
facts mentio:
King, which
Degout ente:
entered he bi
awked him
house, when
