FILLING STATION
é&- CASH HOME
FROM WHICH
ps
Pam Dave
(Ge
*
This composite photograph shows scenes and principals in the Cash kidnap-murder case.
inset, James B. Cash; center, “Skeegie,” the kidnaped boy; right inset,
nervous. Then they questioned Mr.
and Mrs. Williams, upstairs, and heard
again their description of the noise at
the door of the Cash home on the
night when the child was stolen.
“It would appear,” said one investi-
gator, “that the child, if he had not
recognized the kidnaper, would have
cried out.”
In consideration of the parents’ feel-
ings, the G-Man did not announce the
full logic of his deduction. The rea-
soning was there, however, for those
who understood. If the child had
recognized the kidnaper and had not
cried out—then the boy might never
come back alive. The kidnaper would
have to kill Skeegie to protect him-
self from later identification. Had
Skeegie been gagged and chloroformed
s0 he could not recognize the captor?
In that case, the boy might still be
alive.
Neighbors, customers of the store
and friends of the Cash family were
investigated secretly.
T= hour of midnight on Monday,
May 30, approached. Cash was at
the wheel of his automobile. He had
rejected the offer of G-Men to ac-
company him, fearing that bad faith
upon his part would result in the
child’s death. More than 48 hours had
passed since his son had been taken
from him. The way was clear for
him to do his part.
Through the darkness the automo-
bile moved at the comparatively slow
speed of 20 miles an hour. The G-
Men had pointed out that a man who
knew the country as well as the kid-
naper must have, could get from one
specified spot to another before the
car, if he hurried. They realized the
6
ARTERS
gt:
man knew the topography of the route
to perfection—the note had disclosed
this fact, as even minute landmarks
had been given, marks that only a
man well acquainted with the coun-
tryside could give.
The sorrowing father was cool,
hopeful and confident, although the
Skeegie’s body?
from the left)
this rockpit a body—which turned out to be that of a dog
feat RESIDENCE
ASBURY CASH
WHERE ZNO
m RANSOM Nore
WAS DELIVERED
horror of possible failure lay like a
pressing weight on his mind. What
if he could not make contact? What
if his boy were not returned? Was
he still alive?
Out Tallahassee road in the dark-
ness. The palmetto thickets seemed
to close in on the road and the car’s
But as the harrowed father (second
looked on, the searchers dragged from
Franklin P.
SUNSET Drive
a
Left
McCall
headlights made a deep tunnel of
brightness ahead. Cash saw no one.
He stopped at the first specified place,
blinked his headlights and waited.
There was no answer. There- were
no flashes from the roadside darkness.
Cash sighed, threw the car into gear
and drove slowly to the next spot.
Each time he stopped his quest seemed
more hopeless. Each time cruel dis-
appointment swept over him and
despair had to be fought off with all
the vigor of his mind. He completed
the entire route and there had been
no sign. What did it mean? Had the
kidnapers lost their nerve? Was his
boy killed and the man or men who
had killed him even now escaping in
fast, powerful cars from the district?
ASH knew that they would be
caught, because all roads were being
secretly guarded. There appeared to
be no escape for them, but how about
his boy, his Skeegie? Would the kid-
napers’ capture bring the happy, tow-
headed child back alive?
Back toward Princeton Cash drove
along the Dixie Highway. Other cars
on this main route passed him by, but
there never was a sign given him that
contact with the kidnapers would be
made. The shoe-box of money was
beside him on the seat of the car, un-
delivered, as he pulled to a stop in
front of his home and grocery store.
Nothing—nothing at all—had hap-
pened!
How could he tell the boy’s mother?
How could he face her with his own
black despair? Even now he felt
within him that Skeegie had gone out
of their lives forever.
His shoulders sagged as if he were
carrying a great weight as he en-
OD6
tered his home. The G-Men were
there waiting, but so was Skeegie’s
mother. He looked at her, but could
say no word. He shook his head and
she buried her face in a handkerchief.
There had been a crowd about the
store. Rumor and sympathy had
brought them there. Many were mut-
tering at their inability to help their
friend and neighbor in his moment of
tragedy. Many were growling threats
of what would happen to the kid-
napers if any harm should come to the
child.
Another point of interest was the
W. P. Cash home and filling station,
where the first note had been found.
Among those there were Harry Wright,
an employe, who was lingering around
although the filling station was really
closed for the night.
Across the street Frank McCall, one
of the original searchers who had been
helping.in the case since the outset,
stood watching. Suddenly he ran over
to the station.
“Did you see that?”
Wright.
“See what?” asked Wright.
“I don’t know exactly,” McCall an-
he cried to
swered. “It was kind of like a shad-
owy figure. I thought — a man
slipping off around the corner of the
building.”
HE two men turned to enter the
station. McCall stopped.
“Look here,’ he exclaimed, and
stooped over as if picking up some-
thing from the floor. It was a wadded
piece of paper, folded into a billet.
It appeared as if it had been carried
for quite some time by whoever had
left it.
“I wonder what it is,” he said.
He and Wright unfolded the wad
iil
=
a ee ms
ST
>
Re-enacting the ransom payment from early and incorrect reports:
James B. Cash was supposed to place
$10,000 in bills (as the man in the picture is demonstrating) where the abductors in two automobiles 40
yards apart, could pick up the package.
and Wright’s eyes widened as he com-
prehended what it meant. It was a
note—a third ransom note. Hurriedly
the two left to get in touch with W. P.
Cash, uncle of the missing boy.
The note was conveyed quickly to
the stricken Cash home.
In effect—the note was short and
to the point—it said, ‘‘Too many peo-
ple about. Try again about four
o’clock.””
There was hope then, after all. Per-
haps the boy still lived. At least con-
tact with his kidnapers had been re-
score
Franklin P. McCall: “Say, that’s
ashame! | want to help you hunt”
These men are pointing to the shallow hole in the almost impene-
trable palmetto thicket where Federal
The scene is about a mile from the sorrow-shadowed Cash home
newed. The note, again, was writt
in pencil on ordinary wrappi
paper.
Dog-tired from _ sleepless nigh
James Cash prepared again to ma
his lonely drive along the zig-z
route of highways in the Redland di
trict. No specific directions had be
given in the third note, so it was a
sumed that the route described in t
second note was the one to be fi
lowed. The third note had said, “t
again,” which indicated that the ki
napers would be waiting at the sa:
spot—or spots.
Wearily, but hopefully, Cash climb
into his car at 4 am. The packa
containing the $10,000 in currency w
there beside him. It had been brok:
open to stuff in the last note. He w
alone. As previously, he had rejected
suggestion that two officers accompa:
him, hidden in the automobile. T
father’s first thought was recovery
the child rather than capture of t
kidnapers.
At each turn of the road, Cua
watched eagerly for signs of the co
tact. At each designated place
flashed his lights, although it was b
ginning to get gray in the east a
morning soon would be at hand.
(Continued on Page 54)
investigators discovered
Skeegie’s body; the ransom money was found at pile of rocks, left
he had placed those Ford license tags
on the new murder Cadillac, which
had been stolen from Jacob Monsky,
Morris Diamond’s confessional was at
an end. No amount of grilling could
make him admit that.
On the same day Morris Diamond
was returned to New York Joseph
Diamond’s attorneys called police and
said their client wanted to give him-
self up for questioning. The offer was
immediately accepted, and on grilling,
Joe admitted exactly what his brother
had—that, and no more. He emphat-
ically denied that he had ever made
such damaging statements to the
chorus girls in Philadelphia.
Lest public opinion and the joy of
success should go to their heads and
too greatly influence their judgment,
the police decided to give the chap
who had surrendered himself the same
break that any prisoner facing a new
charge would receive. Accordingly,
they decided to make the identifica-
tion of Joseph Diamond in connection
with the robbery and slaying of the
West End Bank messengers conclusive.
To this end, they lined Diamond up
with 25 other nondescript prisoners.
Then a witness at the murder scene
was brought in. Going directly up to
Joe Diamond, the man tapped him on
the chest, saying, “This is the man—
I'm sure of it.” That put the younger
Diamond in the same dog-house as
his brother.
is goad ensued the most ticklish part
of the complex drama. Police had
been utterly convinced from the first
that at least four—and possibly five—
men had committed the “L” station
robbery and murders. Morris was un-
doubtedly the “brains” of the outfit,
and he had positively been identified
as the man who had driven the mur-
der car. Joe was the lookout man
who had idled at the bottom of the
exit stairway, and the two men who
actually had pulled the triggers of the
murder weapons had been described
by eye-witnesses as short and dark.
The trouble with these facts was
that only three men had been seen to
leave the murder car when it was
abandoned on 67th Street. Where, then,
was the fourth man—and possibly a
fifth—who police believed was impli-
cated?
The almost uncanny correctness of
this police theory was proven when
Morris Diamond finally “cracked” un-
der their severe grilling and admitted
implication in the crime but denied
that he and his brother had anything
to do with the actual killings, which,
he claimed, had been the work of
“two gunmen.” Too, he mentioned a
former employe of the West End
Bank, Anthony Pantano, as being their
informer on the inside dope concern-
ing the bank’s methods of money
transfer.
After going so far, Morris went the
whole way. He told police that the
gunmen’s names were John Farino and
George’ DeSarro. His story was be-
lieved because both the mentioned
men had police records. In addition
each fit the descriptions given by eye-
witnesses of the gunmen, being short
and dark.
With one swift swoop, the detectives
bore down on Pantano’s residence and
shadowed it until Tony put in an ap-
pearance. Just what he had to say for
himself was told in Police Headquar-
ters. He denied that he had had any
actual part in the crime but main-
tained that the Diamonds and the rest
of the gang had “forced” him to reveal
the bank’s secrets under threat of vio-
lence.
“First they planned to rob the bank
and wanted me to tell ’em how the
place was guarded. I refused and then
after a while they changed their minds
and decided to rob the messengers in-
stead,” Pantano told the police. He
told also of Summer-long rehearsals
starting in June of the plot which was
laid originally in a bungalow on Wil-
liamsbridge Road. The police decided
to raid the bungalow and see what
secrets could be torn from its shady
interior.
Among the inhabitants rounded up
in the raid was Nick Lucciano, known
as “Cheeks.” Realizing the safety of
keeping far on the outside of the nfur-
der investigation circle which was be-
ginning to clot around five men, Lucci-
ano readily spilled what he knew. It
was plenty.
The red-brick bungalow, he said,
had long been used as the headquar-
ters of the rum ring operated by John
Farino and others. Car-stealing was a
side racket to aid the hijacking and
that’s where Morris Diamond, a former
car thief in addition to his other quali-
fications, came into the picture. Then
suddenly the racket took a flop and
the men began to think of more sud-
den and violent means of acquiring
other people’s money. It was then that
the bank job had been concocted by
the Diamonds. On the day of the mur-
der-holdup the gang had met for the
last time at the bungalow to divide
the loot hastily and scram, each man
for himself.
Lucciano identified himself with the
real criminals only through his par-
ticipation in the rum-running, stating
that he merely had overheard the
holdup plot and was willing to testify
against those guilty of the murders.
Farino was picked up in Hoboken
just as he was about to leave for Italy.
But DeSarro slipped through and was
picked up by Italian police, who re-
fused to extradite him.
After their dual arrests Morris and
his brother Joseph were taken to Po-
lice Headquarters in Brooklyn and
locked up separately. On November
27, at 1:30 p.m., they were both for-
mally charged with murder in the
offices of District Attorney Charles J.
Dodd of Kings County.
Consequently, as soon as was legally
possible the series of trials of the mur-
der quartet—the two Diamonds, An-
thony Pantano and John Farino—was
begun. Morris Diamond came to the
mat first, his trial opening on February
7, 1924. In less than an hour after they
had left the box, the jury was back
with a verdict of guilty. No mercy
recommendation mitigated its first-de-
gree murder dictum.
Next came his younger brother’s
trial on February 13—he was sent to
occupy a cell in the same death house
as his brother. Farino, on February
18, fared no better. The jury sent him
to join the Diamonds up the river.
Pantano’s trial was the only true
legal battle of the entire series of
trials. Was Pantano really guilty? His
part in the murder drama consisted of
spilling the necessary information to
the chief actors. Nickolas Lucciano,
having turned State’s evidence, assured
the jury that he had heard Pantano
willingly repeat “the inside secrets of
the West End Bank to the Diamonds
and Farino and his gang. Thinking it
over the jury decided that that made
Pantano as red-handed as the others.
Subsequently, they brought back the
guilty verdict, minus the recommenda-
tion for mercy.
Shortly after the verdict, however,
Lucciano repented his testimony and
swore that he had given the jury the
wrong impression. Pantano, he claimed,
in reality had given the information
but it had been under duress. This
was considered sufficient new evidence
to ask for a retrial for Pantano. The
request succeeded in delaying Pan-
tano’s up-river journey temporarily
and then when Farino was executed,
he left this note with Warden Lewis
E. Lawes:
To Whom It May Concern
| John Farino being sound in
mind and speaking from my heart
and conscience state that so far
as | know Anthony Pantano was
forced and threatened into giving
his informatien and did not will-
ingly ‘enter into any plot.
(Signed) John Farino
Coming as it did from the very
brink of the next world, Farino’s state-
ment had a definite effect on officials.
Tony was_ snatched from the
arms of the electric chair by a last-
minute reprieve from Governor Smith,
who decided that since there was so
much disagreement and doubt over
Pantano’s guilt, his death sentence
should be commuted to life imprison-
ment.
The epilog to this crime saga was
finally written when, a year after the
crime, Italian police sent for New
York officials to come ‘to Palermo,
Italy, where their wanted man, George
DeSarro, was to be tried for his part in
the American murder drama. He was
convicted of murder and sentenced to
life imprisonment.
Another picture with this story may
be found on Page 41.
Inside Story of the Kidnap-Murder of James Cash, Junior (Continued from Page 7)
was the same story as his first. expedi-
tion, the winding route was bringing
him gradually back toward his starting
place.
Again he was seized with despair.
What eould have.gone wrong? He
looked over the country. The sky was
lighter now, although daylight. still
was some time off. He could make out
a fruit orchard of low trees at one side
of the gravel road. A line of telephone
poles bordered the highway. Cash
knew that he was only about 200 yards
from the Negro shack where he had
found the second ransom note. Sud-
denly, away up ahead of his head-
lights, someone stepped from the
darkness at the roadside and signaled
with a flashlight.
There were two flashes.
Cash stopped his slow-moving car
instantly. He answered the signal.
Whoever was flashing the signal, he
thought, might be the kidnaper of
Skeegie. What had he done with the
boy? Now that contact had been
made, would the boy be returned? Was
he even alive?
Cash. couldn’t let his mind dwell on
those things now. His task was to de-
liver the money and get the child back,
if possible. He stepped from the car
and placed the package of money by
the side of the road.
Cash climbed back in the car. At
any rate, the ransom was paid. He
returned home, cheered and expectant.
Rumor passed through the little
town that Skeegie was due to be re-
turned by noon. Crowds of townsfolk
began to gather and on the strength
of the newest development, Cash’s rel-
atives—some 35 of them in Dade
County—persuaded the hundreds of
friends and volunteers to remain in-
active. Department of Justice agents
54
and local authorities kept the road to
the Cash home open but unguarded.
Everything was done to allow safe
return of the child.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Coleman of
Dade County and G-Men had found
and questioned John Emanuel, the
Negro who lived in the house where
the second note had been found. He
was so frightened that he could hardly
answer their questions and appeared
somewhat of an incongruous figure in
the investigation with his bare feet,
light duck pants, straw hat and shirt-
less arms and chest.
He said that on Saturday night
there had come a knock on his door,
but that he had refused to open or
make an effort to see who was outside.
Then, he said, he heard a man’s voice,
with a foreign accent. From the tone,
Emanuel said, he thought the man
meant trouble, and he ran back of his
house to escape, but the man in front
heard him and also ran to block re-
treat. John ran back to the front and
so did the man outside.
“Tl blow this place up!” Emanuel
quoted his nocturnal visitor as saying,
after the Negro had refused to open
the house. But the threat was of no
use. Shortly the man outside changed
his tactics and told the Negro that Mr.
Cash would give him five dollars on
receiving a note which the man said
he had for Cash. But Emanuel told
the Sheriff that he shouted, “I don’t
want no part of it.”
Then, when Emanuel was sure the.
intruder was gone, he crept from the
house and abandoned it. He did not
return until after the note had been
found and the authorities had in-
vestigated the scene.
“I didn’t want no part of it,” he
repeated,
Emanuel was absolved of all blame
in the affair. He was just a frightened
man who had run away. Sheriff Cole-
man believed he had found some
strange footprints about the place, but
could not be certain of their value
because of the number of searchers
who had roamed the vicinity.
Now, as the time for the return of
the boy grew closer, Princeton’s pop-
ulation grew tremendously. A farm-
ing center 6f perhaps 600 normal pop-
ulation, it was swelled by the arrival
of curious spectators from other com-
munities near by, would-be possemen,
G-Men, reporters, cameramen and
others. The news had leaked out, and
the city of white frame buildings be-
gan to take on the air of a carnival
with hawkers selling peanuts, hot dogs
and pop. The Governor of the State
offered the services of the National
Guard if they were needed. Boy Scout
Officials said the youngsters were ready
to help, as President Roosevelt asked
Congress for a_ special appropriation
of $50,000 to aid the G-Men.
South Florida was preparing for its
greatest manhunt, if one should prove
necessary. It was estimated that two
or’ three thousand persons could be
made available on two-hour notice to
comb the Redland district, the Keys
and the Everglades back of Princeton.
While this activity was going on,
the G-Men and Sheriff Coleman were
busy investigating all angles to the
strange kidnaping. Nothing was left
undone. Sheriff Coleman asked about
the delivery of the third ransom note, .
and W. P. Cash promised to point out
the man who had found it.
“Fle’s a good boy,” Cash said. ‘“He’s
been helping all through this thing.”
Sheriff Coleman, driven by Jack
O’Neal, who was acting as his chauf-
feur, went with W. P. Cash out past
McCall’s home, which was situated
not far from where the note had been
found at Emanuel’s. :
“That’s him,” said Cash, pointing to
McCall, who was seated on the porch
of his home.
[ ATER Sheriff Coleman went back.
He told McCall that he’d heard
that he was the man who found the
note and said that he wanted to know
all about it.
“Everything helps in a case like
this,” the Sheriff said. “We’ve got to
know everything, even if it don’t'seem
important. Wright, down at the sta-
tion, said that you saw something or
somebody that night.”
“Sure I did. But I couldn’t see who
it was, exactly. I want to be of any
help I can, but I don’t want to get
anyone into trouble. You know how
the people are now. That fellow
looked a little like M. F. Braxton to
me, but I can’t be sure about that.
The fellow that pulled this job was a
pretty smart guy, wasn’t he?”
“Well,” the Sheriff said, “I don’t
know about that. Can you tell me how
you found that note? Think hard,”
“T thought you knew all about that.
I just tried to push the door of the
station open and noticed that it was
stuck. I looked down and found the
note, which apparently had been
shoved under the door.”
“Where did you go later that night?
Where did you sleep?”
“IT. went to my _ mother-in-law’s
home. I was there until about 4:15
a.m.”
McCall was taken to the FBI field
headquarters, which had been set up
in an old frame building near the
James Cash place. Secrecy surrounded
OD6
his detention because of the ugly mood
of the crowd. Everyone questioned,
and who might be of help, had to be
protected for fear of misinterpreta-
tion by the mob which was gathering.
Braxton, who had been in the Cash
store on the night the boy was taken,
was also questioned. He was an un-
employed carpenter who knew Mr.
and Mrs. Cash well and had worked
for them occasionally on spare jobs.
The elderly carpenter was questioned
with his son, Pedro. These three —
McCall, Braxton and Pedro Braxton
—were among the first detained for
any lengthy questioning.
McCall and the Sheriff had quite a
chat. The Sheriff bought him a meal
and the youth told him about himself
and how he had taken a commercial
course in high school, but how he made
a living now by driving trucks. Mc-
Call’s reputation was of the best. His
father, now dead, had been a pastor
of the Nazarene Church (his brother
is the present pastor), and the boy
had been married in January, 1936.
Since then he had done odd jobs and,
at one time, he and his young wife had
lived at the James Cash home in the
upstairs apartment.
After McCall had been questioned,
he asked the Sheriff for a cigarette,
and Sheriff Coleman bought him a
package. McCall was released. Brax-
ton and his son were taken to Miami
for further questioning.
When dawn came the following
morning—Wednesday, June 1—and
the harried parents, who were living
sleepless lives behind the drawn
shades of their saddened home, had
learned nothing new to give them
hope, it became increasingly obvious
that the kidnapers either would not or
could not return the boy. The chances
that Skeegie still was alive became
increasingly slim.
One thought was in all minds. This
was the fact that Florida’s kidnap law
provides the death penalty unless a
jury recommends mercy. If a kidnaped
child in Florida is returned alive and
. the kidnaper caught later, he is sub-
ject to the death penalty. If the victim
is murdered, the kidnaper still faces
death. What, the crowd asked, was
the incentive for the kidnapers to re-
turn their prisoner, particularly if the
prisoner had recognized them?
While the crowd was held in check,
authorities were busy keeping every
avenue open to them without en-
dangering the life of the boy. No
clews were left unchecked, however
fantastic.
A watchman on a road-repair job
reported that about the time of the
kidnaping a green sedan passed him,
containing several men and a child
crying for its mother. It was forced
to slow down as it neared the repaired
road, and he had a brief glimpse of the
party. Another report said a black
sedan was seen driving at a fast speed
with a flat tire. ;
Roads were watched, speedboats
bottled up a canal so escape could not
be made by water. Airplanes droned
over the territory, among them the
one owned by Ishmael Cash.
WEDNESDAY morning the man-
hunt started in earnest, while the
Cash family remained in seclusion—
the father near collapse and the moth-
er prostrated.
The launching of the hunt indicated
to everybody that practically all hope
of ever finding Skeegie alive had been
abandoned. This thought was put into
words by G-Man E. J. Connelley, who
remained in charge of the search.
“We must face the strong chance
that this little boy will be found dead,”
he told the searchers. “If you see signs
of freshly disturbed dirt, dig. Take
your time and dig deeply. Look well
into every canal you pass and into
every bush. Overlook nothing.
“If the child is dead, if you find
him, under no circumstances touch the
body. Form a cordon around the spot.
Let none inside. Touch nothing, dis-
turb nothing until a Federal man has
taken charge.”
Then the search was organized. Vol-
unteers were called and grouped off
into parties of fifteen each, It had
one
been 84 hours since the boy had been
stolen, and 30 hours since last contact
had been made with his kidnapers.
Connelley ordered that every build-
ing be searched, and if the searchers
met with resistance by the residents,
a guard was to be posted and the G-
Men notified. Searchers—a motley
group from almost every walk of life
—started off in trucks, cars, boats,
planes and on foot. Some were armed
only with clubs, others had rifles,
shotguns and small arms. Preparations
were made to set up a Red Cross field
kitchen to feed 500 men for several
days. Each posse of fifteen men was
given a map of the district and in-
structed to comb it literally by inches.
Divers hunted the many canals and
abandoned rockpits which had filled
with water. The never-used water-
ways in the Keys were explored by
searchers in boats.
W. P. Cash was asked if the family
had given up hope. He shook his
head sadly.
“We had hopes all through Tuesday
night after the ransom was paid. But
I believe the father and mother have
given up hope.”
Then it began to rain and the mo-
rasses of the pine and palmetto thick-
ets back of Princeton became almost
impenetrable. Still the searchers beat
their way through the jungle growth.
Still little Skeegie was among the
missing.
While the widespread hunt—which
was to cover an area of almost 75
square miles—continued, many local
residents and others were detained
for questioning. No one could tell
whether these persons were suspected
of having an actual part in the kid-
naping or were held merely for in-
formation they were believed to have
picked up. Rumor followed fantastic
rumor.
Hope faded -by the hour.
Yet searchers that Wednesday—870
of them, and a promise that the num-
ber would be doubled the next day—
turned up some clews and a few moon-
shiners were arrested largely be-
cause they refused to answer ques-
tions and were released after their oc-
cupations were established.
Perhaps the most important clew
produced by the dragnet was a large
sheet of wrapping-paper which seemed
to be of the same texture and make
as the paper used for the ransom
notes. Posses had been instructed to
pick up all bits of fresh paper or other
material which appeared to have been
recently used. Some sticks were found
that appeared to have blood on them.
They were taken to Miami for analysis,
as was the paper.
That night the FBI gave indication
that hope for the return of Skeegie
alive had been wholly abandoned
when the serial numbers of the ran-
som banknotes were broadcast. It was
a long list, almost a hopeless task for
anyone to “spot” a bill. But the system
had worked before and the FBI pinned
much hope upon its accomplishing the
purpose again.
That night Miami radio stations ob-
served a ten-minute period of silence
and asked listeners to pray.
Thursday, June 2, an even larger
posse took to the field in a renewed
search. Again it was raining—a steady
drizzle. More clews were developed,
to be checked, run down to the last
detail, placed under the microscope
and made to tell theii full story.
J. Edgar Hoover, head G-Man, ar-
rived by plane at Miami shortly before
10 a.m. and immediately plunged into
the work of reviewing the case.
“We will track down and arrest any-
one,” he said, “who in any way assists
abductors, just as we have in the
Harvey Bailey, ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly,
John Dillinger and Alvin Karpis cases.
They should be regarded as a typhoid
germ which everyone is afraid to
touch. Our belief is that the criminal
cannot be a lone wolf. He must rely
on others for necessary assistance. We
want to isolate the kidnaper so every-
body will treat him like the rat he
is.”’
Rumors spread that the case was
about to be cleared up, but they were
only rumors. Other reports said that
the ransom money already was mak-
ing an appearance in Dade County,
but there was no confirmation. Fed-
eral men offered to pay double the
face value of the first 100 notes
brought in, but they warned persons
locating any ransom notes to take them
direct to the FBI headquarters in
an and make no mention of the
nd.
All day Thursday a drizzle fell,
wetting the searchers, who by now
were estimated to number nearly 2,-
000. The original posses had been
augmented by more volunteers, some
coming from distant counties.
The shoe-box in which Cash left the
ransom money was found hidden in a
pile of coral rock about 250 feet north
of Sunset Drive, directly in front of
the home of Joseph Hilliard, father-
in-law of Frank McCall, who had
found the third ransom note. The box
had been torn to pieces and these
were gathered up and examined for
finger-prints. Some automobile tire
tracks were found near by and casts
were made, although the work was
believed to be without point because
so many cars had been moving about
in that particular area.
NOTHING was being overlooked by
the searchers.
The Dade County Board of Com-
missioners offered a $1,000 reward,
subject to FBI approval, for the arrest
and conviction of the kidnapers. The
town council of Palm Beach, 70 miles
away, offered $500. The Miami Daily
News and Radio Station WIOD jointly
offered $1,000, the city of Miami Beach
offered $1,000, an anonymous resident
of the Redland district, $1,000, and a
resident of Pahokee, in the Everglades,
$500. This brought the total reward
money to $5,000, half the amount of
the ransom payment itself.
Thursday night came and the posses
had systematically combed practically
every inch of the Redland area—
searched the Keys and Everglades,
even sent divers down to scrape the
bottoms of water-filled rock quarries,
but still turned up nothing.
Meanwhile, the search Thursday
spread to other parts of the country.
At Chittenango, New York, a doctor
became suspicious when a woman and
a blond-haired child of five suddenly
fled from his office. He notified police,
and Pennsylvania troopers were or-
dered to guard roads leading from
Chittenango. At Washington, D. C.,
police hunted a car with a Florida
license bearing a tall man and a
screaming child. At Lakeland, Florida,
a couple with a small boy were hunted
after they had been reported to have
acted peculiarly.
None of these things led to the
missing child. Still nobody knew what
had happened to Skeegie. Still nobody
knew who his kidnapers might be, al-
though the G-Men and Sheriff Cole-
man believed they might be getting
nearer and nearer to a solution.
Thursday turned into Friday and
still no word. Dawn found newspaper-
men still sticking by their desks in
the hope of the “break”—ready to
shoot out extra editions. Nothing hap-
pened.
Friday, June 3, was the sixth day
since the kidnaping, and authorities,
superficially at least, were little nea
a solution than they had been at {i
This apparent fact, of course, was
true. The authorities had made gr
strides but were keeping all inforn
tion secret.
Tension eased as the search w:
on, and then tightened again wl
word came that a body had kx
found in a rockpit near Homeste
Searchers had found a burlap |
containing what might have been
body, and the harried father, mak
his first public appearance in th
raed arrived at the scene with
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Simple instructions
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radio will then operate
and tune in the same
manner as if it were con-
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on both short and long waves,
WHAT USERS SAY
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Attach this unit to your radi ke your set
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unsightly OTR or aerial wires.
DISCARD YOUR OLD AERIAI
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No MORE BUZZES, CLICKS and shorts from summer rains and winter sno
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MINATE THE AERIAL FOR GOOD
1 in itself—forge
more roof climbiny
‘@ your set
Light will blink twice.”
THE CHAIR—
The kidnaper amazed everyone by walktie over and sitting in it.
“Excuse me for sitting down,” he —_- "It hurts me to stand.”
short time before, he and his wife © ae
had lived in one of the apartments
in the same building from which
Skeegie Cash was kidnaped. Need--
ing some gas for the pick-up truck
owned by his father-in-law, McCall -
rode to the gas station of R. A. Cash,
another brother of James B. Cash, ©
and had one Harry Wright open the -
station. : vas
As the door opened, the flashlight. -
caught something on the _ floor.
McCall picked it up and showed it
to Wright.
“It’s another note!” McCall. exe
claimed. res
So they took the note to “Shorty”
Cash, son of R. A. Cash, and Shorty
raced with it to Homestead, where
his father was on the lookout for the
kidnaper. R. A. Cash promptly
drove with the note to his brother’s
house and gave it to him. —
Once more the worried and har-
ried father took the shoebox with the
$10,000 ransom cash and ‘started to
ride the designated route. However,
he had driven less than a mile when
a light, from the palmettos beside the
highway, blinked twice. He had al-
most passed the light before it
blinked. He jammed on the brakes,
stopped, left the motor running, ran
in front of his headlights, then
tossed ‘the white shoebox against a
telegraph pole. He-then went back
to his car and again drove the full
route, as ordered.
FREACHING home, with the whole
_town of Princeton in total dark-
ness, and with no one to be seen, the
father went into his apartment and
waited for the return of his son.
The note said the boy would be
returned within two hours after the
delivery of the money. I never be-
lieved this, nor did any other official
I talked with. How did the kid-
naper plan to return Skeegie with-—
out being caught? The only possible
way was to drop him out of an air-
plane in a parachute and ‘that, of
course, was very remote. Even then
his chances of being apprehended
would be excellent.
As the minutes ticked away, ae
route, watching anxiously for a light to blink twice. no Skeegie, the mothers of the country must have been
The trip was fruitless. At no time did a light flash. praying for Mrs. Cash. Not once had she left her apart-
Cash drove home and went into his house to comfort ment, not once would she see even intimates. She sensed
his wife... that her only son was gone, dead, and a million arrows
Later a third and final note was found. It read:. must have pierced her heart. For there is no torture like
that of wondering and waiting for your own child.
“Too many people, Take same ‘route at 4 a.m. but . Finally, the two hours were up. The kidnaper had
first call in all spies. Put all notes in box with money. not kept his promise, although the father kept hoping
and praying far beyond the two hours.
From then on more than 2,000 men, mostly volunteers,
This note was found by a young man named McCall, © scoured the country for about 100 miles around Prince-
known to his friends as. “Frank” and “Mac.” Up to a_ ton. Various crews were organized and directed to
~~: ee
a eqeameaes
—
el is
es SS, OE REE
a a
. d * , eX
them was Sheriff D. C. Coleman, who was later to play
the stellar part in the apprehension of the kidnaper.
A few hours later Wilson P. Cash, brother of the
child’s father, found a note under his door. It read:
“If you have no note yet go to first nigger house on
left on first oil road south of Princeton and get note
there.”
The father, with some friends, rushed to. the desig-
nated house and found it was the home of a Negro
named John Emanuel, a _ laborer.
Emanuel told the distracted father
that a few hours before their ar-
rival a man with a husky voice had
come to his house and handed him
a note, and said, “Take this to the
store of James B. Cash and he will
give you five dollars for yourself.”
- Emanuel asked the stranger what
it was all about and the voice in the
dark shadows replied, “Do as I tell
you! Take the note and hurry up
about it.”
Emanuel took the note and started
into the house with the intention of
lighting the lamp. As he did so, the
unseen visitor re into the -.
blackness. The note read:
ott BA
a
“
Bprer arn.
“We have the child! You will
follow these instructions. Notify any
officer, give serial number of any
bill, fail to burn this note and you
won’t see him again. Place 500 $5,
100 $20, 500 $10, and 10 $50, total
rahe
eta, Te
THE VACANT HOUSE—
(Photo at right.) The kidnaper
‘head planned to keep child here,
but said his plans miscarried.
SCENE OF KIDNAPING— 5
Store and home of J. B. Cash, Sr.,. |
at Princeton, Fla. Child was. 4
snatched from room in the rear, a
$10,000 in a shoe box and take this
route (map shown here). Follow: 4
arrers (sic). Use old unmarked bills %
with serial numbers not running in]
order. Leave Princeton at exactly %
midnight Monday. Take first oil rd.. 7
to left, continue to Moody Drive. 7
Turn left to Allapattah Drive. Turn 4
right to Myra street, then to Home- ..
stead. Go 20 miles per hour full >
route at some point light will flash “
two times. Stop place box on right —
side of road then proceed full route. 3
The child will be released in a few}
hours if all instructions are followed |
and no one notified. Give beaer (sic) 7
of this note $5—then step in front | 4
of place and burn it. Any slip up |
and you won’t see him again.” ee
N-EXt day the father went to the |
Florida National Bank in Miami
and got the $10,000, in the de- 7%
nominations asked for by the kid-
naper. He also begged all police and }
FBI agents to stay away from the]
scene. However, all the serial numbers of the bills®
were photographed by G-Men before Cash was per- 4
mitted to make his midnight contact with the kidnaper. |
Cash, with the money in a shoe box, followed direc- ”
tions given in the note. He pleaded with all his friends >
and volunteer searchers to stay off the highway. He ™
didn’t want to give the kidnaper any excuse to kill his *
child. So the distraught father drove the complete#
sgt Rep
|
|
THE KILLER ENTERS—
This photo of him (center figure) was snapped as he was taken to
(Rear, in elevator, Sheriff Coleman.)
be registered at county jail.
search certain territory. As the eyes of the world
watched and waited, the gigantic manhunt continued.
Several suspects were picked up but soon released.
Officials believed that it was the job of a native, one
very familiar with the locale. -
Meanwhile, Sheriff Coleman had a talk with McCall,
the young man who found the third and final note. The
sheriff found his explanation very interesting, and so did
the G-Men. They talked to him for several hours, and
then McCall again joined the searchers. And no one
showed more zeal than he did in trying to trace down
the kidnaper. He had known Skeegie Cash for some
time, had lived in the same house with the child for
two years. They were great pals, and Skeegie called
McCall “Preacher Boy.” This was due to the fact that
McCall’s father had been the pastor of a local’ church
and had been well beloved by all who knew him. The
the little town of Jasper, Florida,
where young McCall was born.
planed in from Washington,
along with his key aides, to direct
canals and waterways were dredged,
and many rockpits. Once divers
thought they had found the’ body
of the deepest rockpits. A large bag,
such as used for potatoes,
hauled up and examined. It proved
to be the remains of a large dog.
On June 5, all volunteer searchers
were dismissed. They had worked
hard and well, but it was useless.
Skeegie Cash, neither alive or dead,
could be found. The mother and
father continued to remain in the
house, hoping, hoping, Hoping.
affair became international in scope
penses of the FBI to pursue the case
in from all parts of the country,
claiming that Skeegie had been seen
because the evidence obviously
pointed to the case as a hometown
job.
On June 7 McCall was again
brought to the FBI headquarters, top
floor of the Biscayne building, and |
quizzed. After some hours of ques-
tioning, he confessed. He said that
he and————* had plotted the kid-
naping of Skeegie.
“Where is the child iad he was
asked.
McCall stalled. He said that he
didn’t know, that the man he named
as his accomplice did the real kid-
naping. “I just wrote the ransom
notes,” he added.
“You were asked where the child
is now. We believe you know. Now, tell us.”
Again McCall stalled, said that the man he named
was going to take Skeegie into the thick woods near
his (McCall’s) house. “That’s all I know,” he insisted.
“My part was just to write the notes, collect the ten
thousand dollars, and divide the money with him.”
father was now dead and buried in
the search for the kidnaped child. All. -
was.
By this time the fame of the‘
and President Roosevelt asked Con- .”
gress to appropriate $50,000 for ex- -
to the end. The usual letters came
in this place, that place, and prac-.
tically all States in the Union. These |
.tips were not taken too seriously, ©
Oo’ June 2, J. Edgar Hoover a
of little Skeegie at the bottom of one *
a
oe
By
It was after midnight when J. Edgar Hoover and ||
other FBI agents drove McCall back to Princeton. He ™
led them to the thick semi-tropical underbrush about
half a mile from his house and they searched for more j
than half an hour. First McCall would direct them to.
one section, and then to another. Finally, Hoover be- #
came fed up with what he knew was obvious stalling ?
and took McCall to one side. He then told him frankly |
*The name is omitted here, and McCall's claim that a
citizen had
admitted that it was a lie.
reputable
been his accomplice was an obvious lie. Later, McCall 3
%
Fainter a stil mae come :
the heartheat . . . Then, finally:
‘I pronounce this man dead!" rs
that he thought he was lying and demanded that he
quit acting and show him the place where Skeegie was.
McCall, without saying a word, walkéd off in another
direction, followed by the G-men.
Within a few minutes they came to a very thick part
of the underbrush and there, at the base of-a lone pine
tree, lay the remains of little Skeegie Cash. McCall
took one look and exclaimed: “Why, the dirty—!”
Which was supposed to indicate that the reputable
man he had named as an accomplice had deliberately
killed the child and left him there to rot.
The G-men leaned over the little body and examined
it carefully without touching it. The body was in a
supine position, flat on its back with the head turned
toward the left and legs bent at the knees. The chubby
little arms were by the side and across the body. And
it was in a bad state of decomposition. The torso was
encased in a pair of child’s pajamas and the legs were
not completely destroyed. They were six or eight inches
off the ground, entangled in some vines.
All the bones were in the normal anatomical position,
and even the bones disjointed remained in correct posi-
tion. The body had been there for at least a week. After
the cursory examination the body was wrapped in a
blanket and taken to the Turner Funeral Home in
Homestead.
We now come to the night of June 10. McCall had
been returned to the detention pen at the FBI head-
quarters. For some time he stuck to his story an
accomplice was in on the deal and that the accomplice
was the one who had killed Skeegie.
nen HOUSE—
Outside, the palm ouds rettling im the
gentle Florida breeze. ... Inside, the whine
of the. , SOmeretors:. as @ man met justice.
Finally, after hours of grilling, McCall confessed that
he, alone, had planned the kidnaping and that he, alone,
was responsible. All of which officials had suspected for —
some time. They had tagged him for Suspect No. 1 when
they had first picked him up.
Why did they release him? you might ask. To give
him more rope, to watch his actions, and to check on his
statements as to what he had been doing since the kid-
naping. They soon found that his statements were ‘a
bunch of poor fairy tales and it was then that ey knew
positively that they had the right man.
THE WORK of the FBI was over and Franklin Pierce
McCall was turned over to the sheriff’s office to await
trial. He was placed in a solitary cell on the 22nd floor
of Miami’s giant skyscraper combination jail and court-
house, and it was there that I spent approximately
10 days in his company. I remained with him night and
day, and a more complex criminal I have never seen or
talked with.
For one thing, he had no previous jail record, not even
a juvenile charge was on any police blotter against him.
He had, up to the time of his frightful crime, led a clean.
‘honorable life. What, then, caused this formerly gentle
and docile young man of 21 to commit such a hideous
offense against an innocent child? That he was kind,
gentle and honest up until the Skeegie kidnaping is
attested to by many who had known him since childhood.
His mother, several years before the crime, said to some
friends; ‘‘Of all my five children, Franklin is the kindest,
and the gentlest.”
As he stopped on the 19th floor to be registered, he
seemed very moody. A jailer handed him a Bible and
he accepted it without a word, not even a “Thank you.”
Jail officials, including myself, felt that, if given the
chance, he would commit suicide. Which was my reason
for staying with him until his trial.
During my 10 days with McCall, he told me approxi- -
mately the same story he told J. Edgar Hoover, and I
believe it to be true.
During his first days in the cell we stripped him of all -
his clothes, thus preventing him from making a noose
with which to hang himself to the bars.
The first day he refused to (Continued on page 60)
—
'Electrocution of
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1939.
State Court
Denies New
McCall Pleas
Confessed
Kidnaper Apparently
Is Assured.
TALLAHASSEE, Feb. 10. (P—
Piorida's Supreme Court, by denying
two petitions for a new trial of
Franklin Pierce McCall, cleared the
path today for electrocution of the
confessed ransom Kidnaper 10 days
hence.
The court unanimously refused te
‘ grant a new trial on the kidnaping
charge, sought for McCall by the
Rev. E. H. Crowson of Loughman,
who said the prisoner repudiated
his confession to the Kidnaping and
death of James Bailey Cash Jr, at
Princeton, Fla., last May 28.
At the same time. the court also
denied an extraordinary petition
from C. E. Avriett of Jasper for a
rehearing on h ea that the con-
Viction and de sentence be re-
versed.
A death warrant for McCall wag
signed yesterday by Gov. Pred P,
Cone. State Prison Supt. b F. Chap-
man set the execution tentatively
| for February. 20.
The court found Avriett's plea was
based largely on a claim the youth-
ful prisoner did not have adequate
counsel. The court-appointed coun-
sel, described by the justices a”)
“able, active and conscientious,”
made no motions at the original
trial before Circuit Judge BH. PF,
Atkinson in Miami.
McCall pleaded guilty, reasserted
nis guilt and, said the court:
“He then clearly, intelligently and
.| deliberately told in every detail ev-
ery step of his perpetratian of the
crime charged. He made no conten-
tion that he was not guilty of the
crime charged in the indictment nor
did he make any assertion that if
Biven all the time of the future he
could prepare any defense to the
charge then pending against hin .*
Crowson's plea was besed on his
report of a “full repudiation” by
McCall and fraudulent misrepreeen-
tation.”
This the court dismissed with the
statemen::
“This alleged repudiation cen
Lave no more foree and effect than
such action would have in any other
case where a man has freely and
voluntarily admitted his guilt and
then, when about to be executed for
the crime, decides to tell some oth.
er atory with the hope of escaping
punishment.”
Avriett has promised an appeel
to the United States Supreme Court
for hia client.
~~
"9 abeg
( ®TTTAuosyoer) NOINON-SAWIL VaIYNOld AHL
d, ‘Okay,
up again!
me of the
r six feet,
other two
hoved me
t gunpoint
e of them
1d pull that
@
under the
e a mad-
le getting
Finally
way ata
2en riding
vo men in
ud,
d make it
1 out my
320. One
snatched
big time.
on him!’
utes after
gun said
ow down
ie gutter,’
he @.
. the ribs
lid kick.
che collar
ear door,
top when
into the
Id get to
I looked
Charles-
station.”
descrip-
raid not.
had the
cked me
et a look
of them
1e room.
Whiting
vay with
d‘to our
Roth-
‘ive him
lan, ma-
and then
utenant.
ng,” the
4
door to-
a police
re at the
Ruther-
few °
fe)
ymascer,
ag plat-
out the
&
Me AS
2tieCc
. Meyer
4
LEC CC
F2
g2et,
The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville), June 21, 1938 page ll
/ °
'
PACE ELEVEN
—_—- oe oe —
ot a DY.
“VY
Yj Y, y Lea 4
ddaet Z Win: ‘nilrndtn lx
Court Record
For McCall’s
Case in Form
Attorney General’s Office
Finds Legal Require-
_ ments Met._
TALLAHANSEFE, June 30.) 1-- |
The Attorney General's office re: |
ported today the court record that
resulted tn a death sentence for
Pranklin Pierce McCall on child
kidnaping charges was in proper
legal form for Gov. Pred P. Cone
to prepare an execution Warrant.
The Governor was out of town
and there was no indication when
he would set a date for McCall's
execution in the electric chair at
Raiford. —
Attorneys for McCall's family |.
were expected to ask the Cabinet.
sitting as a Pardon Roard, Wednes:
day, to commute the vouth’s sen-
tence to life imprisonment. C A
Avriett of Jasper. one of defense
counsel, telephoned the executive
offices today hut. in the Qovernor’s
aheence, did not talk to his seere-
; taries.
| Negra Is Electrocuted.
| RATPORD. June 20, .—Plorida
executed Orson Williams, a Hills-
| borough County ‘Tampa) negro at
the State Priaon here today. while
18 other condemned men—includ-
ing the confessed kidnaper of 5-
year-old Jimmy Cash of Princeton
—sat silently in cells within 50 feet
of the electric chair.
| Williams was convicted on a
j charge. .of._killing _LeRov. Horton.
‘another negro, with & shotgun.
Sheriff J. R Melsod of Tampa
‘threw the switch at 10:10 A. M.
Fastern Standard” Time, and Wil-
ams was pronounced dead six
minutes later. The negro made_no}
statement before he waa atrapped
in the chaisp—--—t—=
Prankiin Pierce MeCall, 21-vear-
old farm laborer who admitted he
° kidnaped Httle “Skeegie* Caah for
the $10.000 ransom the Iad’s father
paid, made no comment to Prison
Superintendent UL. F. Chapman
about today’s execution.
McCall was sentenced to the
electrie chair under the Plorida
law which makea-kidnaping for ran-
‘} som a capital crime He was not
| tried on a second indictment charg-
! tng first degree murder of the bov
He pleaded innocent to this charge
‘| and tnatsted he had no intention fo
‘i kill the ehiid with whom he used
to play when he roomed in the
Cash home.
THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jacksonville)
Tuesday, 8 April 1952, page 18.
Negro IsExecuted =
For Slaying of Wife,
hen’s, 7Be malted
POLO SHIRTS ~-33¢
BELTS ...12¢ §
689e- Men's Chambray
WORK SHnTS-.44e
idewe awa Combed You
Athietic Shirts 2 ich
280 Men's Wash Fabric
NEURTIES :-.426 J ,
Hund o e floor of tne
McLaren house.
Investigators were told by other
negroes that McLaren was subject
tg “crazy spells” and that iad a
Allen said he was informe
negro twice had been held as in-
sane. They did not know where he
last was incarcerated.
“ge A) oo 3
~
Chief Sox said Monday night that |
ne found no evidence to subgtan- |.
Gute thtat the negro was insane. He
did learm.that the suspect frequent.
ly had crazy spells or was in stu-
: pors as the result of heavy drinking.
- Taken To Hospital '
' After he was subdued the negro
was taken to Miami lice head-
quarters and Chief H. Leslie Quigg
m {and Assistant Chief. Nelson person-
YR CREDIT 1s GOOD
poetry aN lat ARES P ONSEN
ASAE ATT TES
rane
a rhas no civil
¥¢ystem, the
receive no benefits unless voted by |
| biplane circled low over the town,
missing telegraph wires by a}.
\|pear before the city
{there tonight to again urge adop-
{ Rev. Leslie J. Barnette, pastor
t@hurch. The bodv
aceite ne nad nh dattetionsin_anaaa ee
SHOTGUN BLAST killed Sergt.
_H. C.-Barton of Coral Gables
police as he was in Coconut
Grove negro section.
e
Jackson Memorial hospital for treat-
ment of head wounds.
‘Released from the hospital,
negro was taken to county fail and
several hours later was taken to
‘Dade county hospital for X-ray ex-
‘aminations, which showed he had
not suffered a skull fracture. He
‘was returned to jail.
Because the city of Coral Gables
Férvice rules or pension
family of Barton will
the Coral Gables Citv Commission.
bles city judge, said he would ap-
commission
ion of a pension plan for munici-
« workers. Payne said many of
e<present commissioners pledged
| adoption of such a benefit proposal.
at the 1937 election, but nothing had
been done thus far.
-Barton Funeral Tonight
Funeral services. for Barton will
be conducted at 7:30 p. m. today in
W. L. Philbrick Funeral Home by
of
Coral Gables Congregational
will be sent to
‘Birmingham for burial.
The active pallbearers will be Ser-
eant W. F. Key, Sergeant L. C.
eeve, Sergeant F. P. Ponda Po-
licemen W. G. Kimbrough, H.
Coleman and Ditsler. Coral ues
city officials will act as honorary
nauWthasrary
paneer
Rane teed
ou?” he asked. “SE from
meeton and I just wanted
to let him know I was leaving
town for Detroit.”
Advised to throw the knife
aye the youth walked out of
obby
An hour. later he reappeared,
and secured Hoover's autograph
when the chief G-man entered
the building.
ARTA STN REN Bact ees
7 ‘Wy FP ¥ y oy
% per ke
qt -
4 2
ally superintended his transfer to |
Philip E. Payne, former Coral Ga- |
Was broken during the day by
only a few incidents that reealled
the hectic week after “Skeegie”
Cush vanished from his bed.
J.ate in the day, a federal agent
and a sheriff's deputy placed a
ladder against the Braxton bun-
the | Balow, almost directly back of
,'the Cash home and a block east
of the federal highway. They
mounted to the roof, peered into
a ventilator and descended. The
deputy said they were “just
checking around.” The Braxtons
were out at the time.
About 10 a. m., a small yellow
scant 10 feet, and dropped a note
which G-men picked up and took
into their Princeton headquar-
ters. Jts receipt caused no un-
wonted§ activity around the
weather-beaten wooden store
building where. the FBI field of-
fice igs housed, and tobacco-chew-
ing farmers idling on the porch
went on with their whittling.
The plane came from the direc-
tion of uninhabit&@ small islands
south of Princeton where a skele-
ton crew of searchers continued
a last-chance combing of man-
grove swamps and shorelines.
Scour Desolate Islands
A wniekod erew <f cl~ that left
7
oO!
00.
KILLS OFIER
— a
Continued From Page 1
avenue, Tathong to a negro woman,
when the shot unexpectedly was
fired
Ditsier rounded the heuse on the
run, lifted the dving Barton into:
the squad car and raced to the neur-
by University hospitel,
Attracted By Falling Glass
A radio command sent Patrolmen ,
W. oS. scott and Harry Bushman, !
Miami police, to the scene They |
were atiracted to the house directly |
across the street from where Bar. |
ton was siruck. by the sound of fall-
ing glass. smashing furniture and a
blaring radio. :
Scott, pistol in hand, entered this | %:
house. while Bushman covered the!
back door. Scott saw a negro con-|{ ¢
ceal a Snotgun barrel—the rest of
the weapon was in shattered pieces
on the floor—and advance toward
him with uplifted hands.
The negro. identified bv police
as Frizell McLaren, 32, said to Scott:
im ready.’ ON THIS PORCH in Coconut Grove negro section was killed
|
|
y
Scott moved. to replace his Zed. | Sergt. H. C. Barton of Coral Gables police. An investigater,
j
|
|
in its holster, and the negro lunged
grasping the patrolman around his in this official photograph, shows how Sergeant Barton was
neck. The two men fought. the scuf-| — s:qnding when struck by deadly fire trom across the street.
fle concealed from Bushman by the
amplified sounds from the radio. Miami Police Photo by Bar cxer : | a,
Then Sergeant Allen came on the |
j scene. unaware of what had gone |
before. He peered in the side win-
dow. searching for the man nanied |
in his traffie warrant, and beheld
1 FAM
100 N. MIAMI AVE.
Ouits
Business
FOR GOOD AND FOR-
EVER... Selling Out Sale
Going Like a House Afire
... Entire Stock at the Low-
est Prices Ever Known...
We Lost Our Lease...
Forced to Sell Out for
What it Will Bring!
Work and Dress
MEN’S SOX, pai Sc
Men’s $1.00
DRESS SHIRTS ..5 Se
Men’s Full Size
HANDKERCHIEFS ..3¢
Men’s 75c Knitted
POLO SHIRTS ...33¢
BELTS ....12c
69c_ Men’s Chambray
ORK SHIRTS ..44c
35c Men’s Helmet
TRAW HATS, [5c
Men’s Broadcloth
SHORTS ..pr. Lic
hiiete Shirts 4 Lc
ARan Banda Waakh Bakrin
-
Tthe tussle. Entering the building.
he choked McLaren and thus freed
Scott.
Negro Bound With Wire
The negro insanely fought on,
kicking and biting, as Allen, Scott
and Bushman sought to handcuff
him. Detectives C. C. Papy and
Weslev Shanahan joined and sub-
dued the squirming negro bv wrap-
ping him witha length of telephone
wire.
The house, occupied by Mcl.aren’s
brothers, Hiram and John, and
taken over by him without their
knowledge as thev were absent. was
a wreck. Virtually every pane of
glass had been smashed. furniture
broken to bits and plaster beaten
from the walls.
Sheriff D. C. Coleman, Police
Chief D. E. Sox of Coral Gables and
Lieut. James O. Barker of Miami
traced the course of the slugs bv
means of a hole—just large enough
for a single-barrel shotgun—in the
screen of the Mcl.aren house to im-
bedded slugs in the opposite build-
ing.
The officers were convinced the
woman to whom Barton had been
talking was telling the truth when
she said she did not know who fired
the shot, as the screen shielded the
assailant. Wadding from the shot-
gun was found on the floor of the
McLaren house.
Investigators were told by other
negroes that McLaren was subject
to “crazy spells” and that Sergeant
Allen said he was informed the
negro twice had been held as in- |
sane. They did not know where he
last was incarcerated.
Chief Sox said Monday night that .
he found no evidence to substan:
tiate that the negro was insane. He!
did learn that the suspect frequent: ;
lv had crazy spells or was in stu: i
pors as the result of heavy drinking. |
Taken To Hospital :
After he was subdued the negro
was taken to Miami police head. .
quarters and Chief H. Leslie Quigg
and Assistant Chief Nelson person: |
CREDIT 1S GOOD
WITH US
y FIIRNITIIRE &N
eee ee ne me oP Ne rE
ee
SHOTGUN BLAST v.03 Dery.
F
£
{
~~ can ’ i
H yrtcorm fr? Fan) ( A ee De
i. C. Ea: TY © + thes Sed Ade
’ : .
ies rem bo ter ows: vy cae t
pc.ice Wo itt re oo es a
Grove § it?s #640.
ally superipteraest bos Mratiafer fo
ment of teaa wee
Releasedd dperiy ctin os moar, Tne
Nevro Was Taney Tr ere ites rath atid
sePVeral baits date Skogs Taeet
T\ J ; ’ .-
eo ar
THE HRRALD, MIAMI, FLORIDA
}
1
Panama Women V ole
Gables Slayer
| % ve e e
For Fiest Time
PANAM4. Patigina, Oct. 6. 1%)
(;aehhels Nays |
Is Fighting ka
i? rec rocu ce Women voted for the tiest cine itn < :
fae : Militisier "ati tis
a. +> Peinatue Monday it ballot for pro
ei Brivelt McLaren, convieted in CU vineig) legisintive candidiries aut! a
(eat court of the inurder of Pollee | ae : . a Wav ai Vets, eayeta
: ; . ‘ : a Dresene é F :
Sergt. H.C. Barton of Coral Gables | their presence bad a quiellig effect See en
Clin June, 1938, was one of four men: ou the imen, Police, who usually toad oo in ee
: ott
?} electrocuted at the sate prison Mon: plenty to do on election dav. reporl
; bowelie "y pat
} day. ; — : Ped this one passed witltOttl so miaieu so
: ar wax ihe first tine Bec lroeulloun wea fist Pigd coud to jivete atten
have been conducted by an offielals pon. ae
‘| execuiloner and the second ume -———
tifour men have peid the extreme sing the Coral Guable- pollcenian with
| peaaltyv in ove day. Te itt provocation ino a negre sectlou
| ‘The negro was ccarged with kill- | near Coconnl Grove
i
1
!
2 i '
Vi
zt
: Protection, Too,
{ ;
in - at $ Savings!
t ‘
in - at Sears Savings!
xe ER
ee
6 ed
aT ay
AMERICAN
to contemplate—the dead body of the baby. Mrs, Franklin
Pierce McCall was a quiet colorless Cracker girl who seemed
to be bemused by all the excitement that had come with the
first of summer’s intense heat to the peaceful little com-
munity.
Then one day McCall and his wife disappeared. The FBI
had decided to strike again. During the three days that the
suspect had been at liberty, the agents had questioned and
cross-questioned at, least half a dozen men and women from
the Princeton area but the tinge of suspicion was always too
faint to cling to any one of them.
McCall had disappointed his shadows and had not visited
a certain grim hiding place where an innocent baby’s body
‘lay. Neither had he gone to some deep cache where a bundle
of tell-tale money was hidden. He had used his liberty
wisely.
But he had been no disappointment to the expert who had
pored for hours over the photographs of the kidnap notes and
compared them with his handwriting. He was only a faint
disappointment <t ohn Manuel, the Negro, who stood behind
a screen when McCall was re-arrested and listened atten-
tively to the young man’s voice. ;
“T wouldn’t know for sartain,” murmured the Negro, still
tremulous and afraid, “but it sounds like him.”
With Mrs. McCall the agents of the FBI were gentle, kind
and lenient. They questioned her about her husband’s move-
ments on the night of the kidnaping. Wide-eyed, she told
them that he had come and gone from their cottage home
on the outskirts of the village of Princeton, but she was not
certain about the hours of his arrivals and departures.
The explanation’ was to completely shatter McCall’s own
attempts to alibi when he was again questioned. “I was
home all evening until I heard about Skeegie being gone,”
he said sullenly. But his wife’s words had gone into the
records before he spoke.
Thereafter the agents concentrated their attention on
Franklin: Pierce McCall. Past masters at cross-questioning,
four lawyers who wear the badges of the best trained de-
tective force on earth asked-him question after question. The
shrewd young man was ready with the answers at first. His
replies were calmly uttered and almost matter of fact.
Convinced that they had the right man, and certain now
since they had shadowed him so long, that he had worked
alone, the agents stuck doggedly to the task of tripping him
in his statements.
But Franklin McCall evidently had prepared himself for
this. He sat in his chair in the only way any man can sit
and withstand perpetual questioning: with his body relaxed
but with his mind as alert and keen as he can keep it.
For forty-eight hours Franklin Pierce McCall denied the
evidence of his handwriting, and even of the scrap of paper
which had been found at the back of his cottage and which
fitted perfectly the type on which the ransom notes were
written. He even denied buying the pork chops from the
Cash store, on the wrapper from which it was proven the
ransom notes were written.
But at the end of two days, he began visibly to weaken.
At last, after hours of travail, he blurted: “T did not kill
him! I didn’t kill Skeegie !”’
Tia lawyers who were questioning him sighed with
relief. It was the first breath of admission. The rest
followed quickly.
“T admit I wrote the notes,” he said, “You've proved that.
I'll take you to the money and—and the body. But I didn’t
kill Skeegie.” ‘ .
In detail then his confession came. For two weeks he had
planned to kidnap one of three children in the Princeton
district. xs
“Charles Chambers’ kid was one,” he said. “But his
mother never got away from him, Charles E. Eichenberger’s
son was another—but he’s away in school and almost grown
up. Skeegie was the other.”
“You had a reason; you had ‘help,
spoken softly by one of the agents.
Franklin McCall turned his bloodshot eyes upon the
speaker.
_ “I wanted money,” he almost shouted. “I wanted to live a
fuller life, a more abundant life. I thought I was entitled
to live better.”
“You had help!” the voice intoned again.
the statement was
DETECTIVE 75
“Yes! Yes! I didn’t kill Skeegie!” McCall was almost
sobbing. “I didn’t kill him!”
“Yet you can show us the body and where the money is
hidden, ‘Wha helped you?” persisted his questioner.
“His uncle did it. Asbury Cash killed him!” McCall told
the cruelest lie he could utter with those words. A lie that .
brought more pain and misery to the uncle of the missing
baby who had already suffered untold mental tortures with
the rest of the family. .
Naturally the order went .out for Asbury Cash to be
brought in for questioning. And at the same time the agents
accompanied Franklin McCall to Princeton where he had
promised to reveal the terrible evidence of his crime.
It was shortly after midnight of June eighth when Franklin
McCall, handcuffed to an agent, led the way through a
The parents of the slain boy, shown as they arrived
at the court in Miami for the trial of the kidnaper.
tangled thicket of palmettos and green briar, half a mile from
the village of Princeton and not a fourth of a mile from
his own cottage. The confessed kidnaper stood in the light
from half a dozen torches and pointed to the thicket. “It’s
in there!” he said
When the remains of little “Skeegie” Cash were carried
from the thicket, the FBI agents instructed McCall to lead
them to the money cache.. From the corner of a stone wall
which fenced a nearby grapefruit grove, McCall uncovered
all but $250 of the ransom money. He then led the way to
the home of a friend where $245 was taken from a grease
can in an outhouse. The friend, he declared, knew nothing
about the money cached on his premises.
Franklin McCall’s foul lie about the uncle of the kid-
naped baby was not disclosed that night, nor yet during the
next day. Asbury Cash denied it and proved positively that
he could have had no part in the crime. The agents freed
him and returned more grimly to the task of questioning the
truth out of McCall.
It took less time then to crack the confessor than it
formerly had. Within a few hours McCall was shouldering
all responsibility for the full crime!
“I tried to hold two handkerchiefs over his face to keep
Sr
ma
ae en nee
enn ee ees
ie
the parents of Charles Mattson in far
76 - AMERICAN DETECTIVE
him from crying-out,” he said in his second and more com-
plete confession. “I was nervous and excited. When I got
near my home I felt Skeegie’s hands. They were cold. I
knew then I’d killed him. So I hurried into the woods and
threw his body into that thicket. I was alone. I did it
alone.”
This confession consisted of eight pages of closely written
script before it was finished and every detail was complete.
McCall went over the writing and planting of the notes
again. He exonerated innocent Henry Wright, who was
with him when the last note was found, of having any part
in the plot. Having decided at last that only the truth would
satisfy these adamantine sleuths from Washington, McCall
blurted out the entire sordid story and wound up again with
his assertion that he wanted to live “a more abundant life”
with the money he expected to realize froni a kidnaping.
The hour he signed that confession, I watched a sad eyed,
bewildered young woman leave the FBI headquarters and
enter an automobile which would take her to Princeton. The
wife of the confessor had gone home to think over this
great tragedy that had wrecked her life. She had gone to
hide herself among her relatives and never again appear
until her husband had pleaded guilty in the Dade county
court and passionately beg Circuit Judge T. F. Atkinson to
sentence him to the electric chair.
McCall received his sentence on June 16th. Twenty-four
hours later a lawyer appeared to demand for him a
hearing before a board of psychiatrists. The
young man is the son of a minister, the
nephew of ministers, this lawyer claims;
he never could have conceived the
kidnap-murder unless his mind: was
unsound.
While the lawyers attempt ‘a
belated fight to save the life of a
kidnaper, a murderer and a liar .
who had tried to place blame
upon the shoulders of an inno-
cent man—a sorrowing family
in Princeton, Florida, is trying
to forget. Trying to forget there
ever was a Franklin Pierce Mc-
Call—that the hours of torture,
misery and suspense were not
part of a grisly nightmare.
‘But the mother and the father
can never forget that there once was
a laughing, curley headed youngster
whom they called “Skeegie”. Just as
away Tacoma, Washington, can never forget
there was once a bright little boy asleep in his
crib in their home; and Mr. and Mrs. Levine will never
erase from their memories the picture of little Peter,
In the United States the cruel game of snatch goes on,
and a government, profligate in everything else, tightens the
purse strings on the only organization equipped or manned
efficiently enough to cope with this phase of criminal mad-
ness.
The FBI has solved all but two kidnapings since the
Lindberg snatch. It can and is expected to solve the Levine
and Mattson cases. I can safely say without the danger of
violating confidence, that both these cases will be marked
“solved” on: the FBI records within the year and from
clews already in the possession of these expert criminolo-
gists! ‘
Such trained and astute sheriffs as D. C. Coleman are
rare in America, and so long as the present political system
obtains in law enforcement offices, they always will be.
There remains. then, between the public and the vicious
rats of the snatch racket, the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion and J. Edgar Hoover’s genius for organization and the
selecting and training of men. I predict that there will be
more and more kidnapings in America, either of the local
Cash type or of the more desperate and organized nature of
the Levine and Mattson cases, in exact proportion to the
extent that the FBI is shackled by inadequate appropriations
or stupid jurisdiction laws.
Mothers and fathers in America may well rise
up to demand: the throttling of politicians who
deprecate the FBI to see. their own names
in headlines; more liberal appro-
and laws that will enable the agents
to enter a case the very moment a
child is snatched.
When these things are done, there
will be fewer broken hearts, and
fewer empty cribs in the families
that may be marked by these
marauding wolves as prey for the
kidnap racket.
Tue Enp
Franklin Pierce McCall occupies a cell in the
“death house” of the Florida State Prison,
below, in the center of which stands the elec-
tric chair,
priations for the entire Secret Service;:
|
74 FLORIDA'S CASH CRIME
child’s empty crib was discovered. After two ransom notes
had been found and a broken father had already made one
futile drive to try to make contact with the kidnapers,
Franklin McCall was the youth who found the third note.
Certainly, I thought, someone should have a long, close
talk with him,
Sheriff D. C. Coleman was surrounded by a group of
newspapermen. The inaction of the week-end was over.
Armies of possemen were arriving by truck and automobiles
to accept the leadership of men assigned by the sheriff and
Agent Rutzen to begin a search of Princeton and the
formidable back country ’glades for clews. ~
“You think it’s a local job?” I asked my question of the
sheriff during a lull in the excitement,
“Cased by a local man, sure!” replied the sheriff.
A newspaperman asked a question and another spoke up
quickly :
“Have you talked to the fellow who found the last note
yet?” I managed to wedge in my own query without voicing
my suspicion,
Sheriff D. C, Coleman did not reply immediately. He was
harassed; he had been sleepless for two nights, but in his
straight, quick glance I saw that his brain was clear, his
mind working at top speed. ie
“There are some odd circumstances and I want to talk
to that young fellow,” he said. The sheriff did not announce
his theory of the rumpled third note that could not possibly
have been pushed under a door. He was to do so later.
Immediately after this conversation, he shook himself free
of the clamoring groups that were demanding a place on the
posses, and sought out Franklin Pierce McCall. When he
found the young man, Sheriff Coleman took him directly to
FBI headquarters in the Biscayne Building at Miami.
The Cash kidnaping case had begun to break. That after- -
noon the posses, who by now knew they were searching for
the body. of the kidnaped child, swarmed through the back
country and flung southwards and westwards around Home-
stead.
The Florida Everglades—that vast mysterious area of
lake and sawgrass marsh, of tidal flat and high palmetto
thickets—reared its green wall as a formidable barrier to
those who had never known its heat and hardships; its
tangled thickets and soft muck on the cabbage palm hum-
mocks.’ Here within the borders of the United States is a
“green hell” to try the stoutest heart; a jungleland as hard
to penetrate as any in the actual tropics.
ORDERING this green menace are the mangrove
swamps which fringe the tidal bays on the Atlantic and
the Mexican Gulf sides of the Florida peninsula, The man-
groves with their tangled brown roots waist high to a man,
would be more, difficult to search even than the jungles of
the hinterland.
Then there were the tidal bayous and ‘the innumerable
waterways. The thousands of mangrove covered islands
between the mainland and the open gulf or the ocean. Surely
in all of the forty-eight states no more desperate area could
have been found in which to hide the body of a tiny boy.
PRBES) Chote
The kidnaper had attempted to
place the first note under the
door of this shack, owned by John
Manuel, a negro (below).
While the posses sweated and toiled in this living hell
of green, the experts at FBI headquarters in Miami were
studying the handwriting on the rdnsom notes; analyzing the
paper on which they were written; classifying and studying
every scrap of paper and the numerous “‘suspicious” objects
which the searching parties sent in.
John Edgar Hoover, the indefatigable director of the FBI,
had come from Washington with his most efficient aide, E. J.
Connelly, Suspects already were being brought in. The last,
persons to eriter the Cash store on the night the child was
kidnaped were among those first to be questioned, Into this
group Sheriff Coleman calmly placed Franklin Pierce McCall
and made his quiet observation to the FBI agents about the
rumpled ransom note.
No hint was given McCall that he was suspected of this
crime. He was asked to tell about the finding of the note
and his answer to a casual question seemed to satisfy
Connelly that he had seen “nobody suspicious” around the
Cash place when he had stopped. in on Saturday night to
ask the time. A sample of his writing was obtained by the
simple expedient of requesting his signature on a note pad.
Franklin Pierce McCall scrawled his signature and showed by
his calm, self confident air, that he did not know that the
shadow of suspicion had fallen upon him. ‘
And when a short time later, after a hurried conference
with the sheriff, the FBI agents released him, Franklin Mc-
Call went away smiling, treading jauntily, after first of all
assuring the officers he would give them: ‘Every ounce of
cooperation in the hunt for little Skeegie.”
He did not know that his release was part of one of the
shrewd moves for which J. Edgar Hoover and his aides are
famous. Sheriff Coleman agreed with the agents that Frank-
lin McCall, if he were indeed the writer of the kidnap notes,
as the handwriting expert in the bureau said he believed,
probably had the help of others in the actual snatch. Given
his freedom it was believed McCall would contact those who
had helped him. He might visit the place where the child
had been hidden. He might even feel safe enough to begin
to spend the ransom money. In short, the evidence on which
to hold him was scant; the evidence he might himself create
if he were freed could easily swing the case to a tight con-
clusion.
ND so, as McCall walked away from FBI headquarters
that day, and headed straight back to Princeton by bus,
he was followed by an unobtrusive member of the: FBI.
Thereafter skilled shadows in relays followed him wherever
he went.
During the next three days I encountered McCall fre-
quently as he bustled about with the posses in and out of
Princeton. The young man was tireless. When one of the
numerous false reports reached Princeton that a blood soaked
cloth had been found near a deep rock bottomed bayou, Mc-
Call was one of the first to rush there and offer his help in
dredging the pool.
I saw his wife during these frenzied hours when every
man in the searching parties was trying to make a name for .
himself by being the first to discover a clew—or more terrible
ba al
route described in the ransom note. He filled the demands
of the kidnapers to the letter. And he returned, heart broken
and empty handed. He had not made the contact.
A remarkable thing happened in Princeton shortly after
Cash’s forlorn return that night. At the filling station owned
by Wilson Cash, another brother of J. B., two young men
stopped to buy gasoline for a light truck.. The station was
closed but Wilson, knowing the young men well, opened up
to serve thé customers.
Before the filling station man could step out to his pump
one of the young men bent down and picked up a moist,
wadded bit of brown paper from the floor. “It must have
been pushed under the door,” he remarked.
The paper was the third of the kidnaping notes. It in-
. structed ves Bailey Cash to “try again around four
o'clock”. The young man who picked it up was. Franklin
Pierce McCall. His companion was likeable and honest
Henry Wright.
-Now James Bailey Cash and his brothers, Wilson and
Asbury, had already been coached by Arthur C. Rutzen, the
FBI agent from Miami, who was then in Homestead at a
temporarily arranged headquarters. Rutzen had photo-
graphed the ransom money in accordance with the kidnap
instructions. Over the private telephone that had been in-
stalled in his house, the distracted father informed the FBI
agent of the latest note.
Thus the third note was photographed and back in Cash’s
hands in time for him to place it with the kidnap money
when he began the nervous twenty-five mile drive at 4
o’clock.
On that drive the contact was made. Cash saw the signals
flashed from an electric torch. He stopped his car. Beside
the road he placed the shoebox containing 10,000 dollars in
bills of five and ten dollar denominations, and the three ran-
som notes. He heard a rustle in the palmetto thicket whence
the flashlight sign had come. He heard ‘a footstep in the
darkness—that was all. The scene was less than a mile from
his home.
And into a kidnaper’s hands went a package of bills, the
numbers of which had already been copied, and three ransom
notes that had been photographed so that the type of hand-
writing, so ineffectually disguised with poor printing, was
an indelible record for the FBI... .
It was midmorning on Tuesday, May 3lst. Since four
o’clock. James Bailey Cash -had waited in vain for his son’s
return, The crowds in the Princeton street were more rest-
less than ever. Among them.moved Sheriff D. C. Coleman,
an erect, quiet, observant figure, looking searchingly at the
various groups of men.
I had heard the story of the third ransom note at day-
light. Franklin Pierce McCall, I remembered, was one of
AMERICAN DETECTIVE 73
the last persons in the Cash store that fateful Saturday night.
I began a hunt for the young man who had figured so often
in the events surrounding this snatch. The barriers, I knew,
were about to be torn down. James Cash was convinced, now
that more than six hours had elapsed since he paid the
ransom money, that he would never again see his child alive.
Florida’s swift rains were falling shortly before noon.
I joined a score or more of men who stood under a circular,
palm thatched shelter near the school house across the road’
from the Cash general store and filling station.
The hammering rain had interrupted my search for Mc-
Call. I felt that my hunt for background and color and even
for helpful clews would not be complete without a chat with
this most active and ardent friend of the Cash family.
To say that I was suspicious of Franklin Pierce McCall,
as I watched the abating shower from beneath the palm
thatched shed that morning, would be an empty egoism in
view of what has transpired. But when a posseman nudged
me in the ribs and said: “That guy you wanted, he’s right
back there on the edge of the crowd,”—I experienced a dis-
Youthful Mrs. F. P. McCall was
as shocked as her neighbors to
learn that her husband was in-
volved in this shocking crime.
Their home is pictured at left.
tinct sense of important discovery.
Elbowing through the drenched and steaming throng, I
confronted a young man whose dark hair looked almost
black from the soaking it had received as he had run,
hatless, through the rain to. the shelter, Franklin McCall’
wiped the rain from his face as I greeted him. He regarded
me with a steady stare and nodded his head affirmatively
' when I said: “You’re the chap who found the third note—”
“Yeah, it was lying on the store floor,” he replied. “The
filling station floor, I mean,” he stroked his deeply cleft chin
reflectively and stared at me. Then he asked: “Not a G-guy,
are you?”
“No,” I smiled at the compliment, “Just a writer.”
It is easy enough ndw to say that I saw a flicker of relief
come into his eyes. My impression at the time was that he
wished to shun publicity. At any rate it was with difficulty
that I induced him to a further discussion of the kidnaping.
“Known the family for a long time haven’t you?” I
offered.
“Lived there for a while,” he replied. ‘“Worked for them.”
Then with what I thought was unnecessary vehemence he
added, “I loved that kid almost as much as they did. Little
Skeegie was a fire kid.” : ‘
The rain stopped as quickly as it had started. The group
beneath the shed began to filter out into the road where
others joined them, Franklin Pierce McCall shrugged his
wide shoulders, and with a muttered apology started to cross
the street. 5
I watched him, puzzled. He knew so much about this
snatch, and yet had said so little. He knew the Cash family
and had been the last man in their grocery store before the
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N SATURDAY night, May 28, 1938, little five-year-old
Jimmie “Skeegie” Cash was kidnaped from the home:
of his parents in Princeton, Florida, A ransom ‘note
demanding $10,000 for the return of the child was hidden under
the steps of a deserted shack on the outskirts of the little Florida
town, and directions for finding it were left on the front door
of the kidnaped child’s uncle in another part of the town. —
The child had been taken from an upstairs bedroom while
his parents, Mr, and Mrs. James B. Cash attended to customers
in the combined filling station and grocery store which they
operated below.
At daybreak FBI agents from a doZen cities began to filter
into the little Florida town. Long before midnight on Monday,
the time specified by the kidnaper for the pay-off, more than
fifty of them had assembled. FBI headquarters were established
at Princeton, and the ransom note, accompanied by a crudely
drawn map, was studied. The note read:
We have the child, You will follow these instructions.
Notify any officer, give serial number of any bill, fail to
burn this note and'you won't see him again. Place 500
$5—100 $20—500 $10 & 10 $50 in a shoe box and take
this route map shown here, Follow arrers.. Use old un-
marked bills with serial numbers not running in order.
Leave Princeton at exactly midnight Monday. Take first
oil Rd to left. Continue to Moody Dr. Turn left go to Alla~ °
patah Dr. Turn right to Myra St then to Homestead. Go
20 MPH full route. At some point in route light will flash
two times. Stop place box on right side of road then pro-
ceed full route. The child will be released in a few hours tf
all instructions are followed and no one notified. Give
bearer of this note $5 then step in front of place and burn
it. Any slip and you won't see him again,
Acting in accordance with instructions in the note and also
upon advice of the FBI agents, James Cash pretended to burn
the note in front of the filling station. He begged the local
authorities and FBI agents to refrain from acting until the
money had been paid.
At exactly midnight, the boy’s father stepped into his auto-
mobile in front of the filling station with the box containing the
$10,000 under his arm,
He drove the entire route specified in the ransom note but no
light was flashed and no effort made to contact or stop him
along the route. It was more than an hour later that he returned
to the filling station with the ransom money still intact.
As he stepped from his car with sagging shoulders he was
64
DETECTIVE WOnLD, May,
by Bob Crossland .
ro
greeted by Harry Wright, operator of another filling station
directly across the street from the Cash establishment. Wright
had another note from the kidnaper which had been pushed
under the door of his station while Cash was attempting to
deliver the money. The third note read:
Too many people. Take same route at 4 a.m, but first call
in all spies, Put all notes in box with money. Light will
blink twice.
The spirits of the distracted father arose immediately and he
waited impatiently until 4 o'clock to start his second attempt to
deliver the money. The second attempt was successful. A short
while after starting his trip the light blinked twice and the
money was tossed from the car at the corner of an orange
grove. Mr. Cash did not get a glimpse of the kidnaper.
Tuesday passed without the child being returned or any word
from the kidnaper, From Washington, Mr. Hoover was wing-
ing his way southward to join in the hunt. In the meanwhile
FBI agents, satisfied that the child was dead, released the num-
bers of the ransom bills, and the search was taken into the open.
When Mr. Hoover arrived, he carefully studied every phase
of the case. The ransom notes especially held his attention. Sud-
denly he saw the whole picture. The kidnaper had made a fatal
mistake! An arrest followed in a sensational manner and within
a few hours the kidnaper not only confessed, but led Mr. Hoover
-and his aides to a clump of bushes which concealed the body of
little “Skeegie” Cash. The child had been killed at the time of
the kidnaping by being smothered with a handkerchief.
Where did the kidnaper slip?
It was the third ransom note that tripped Franklin Pierce Mc-
Call, a twenty-one-year-old truck driver and close friend of the
Cash family.
The third ransom note had been pushed under the door of a
filling station which WAS CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT
AND NOT SCHEDULED TO BE REOPENED UNTIL 8
O’CLOCK THE FOLLQWING MORNING,
How then could a note directing Cash to make another trip
earlier at 4 o’clock be found unless the kidnaper directed some-
one to it? That is exactly what Franklin McCall did. Spotting
Harry Wright in the crowd around the Cash filling station while
Cash was making his first attempt to deliver the,money, he had
asked Wright to open up the station to supply him with gas for
his truck. Wright innocently found the note.
McCall paid for his crime in the electric chair at Raiford after
making a full confession. All except $5 of the $10,000 ransom
money was recovered, ;
1948.
Sages
»
wetts:. “Mrs.
“Franklin
Pierce McCall,
’
~ MOURNS -
“Right: Griev-_
_ing Mrs. Cath-
erine Wood wae
burn, Cincin- --
nati, Ohio,-
“holds. doll: of .
Tehaine daugh-
"ter, 6, who was .
ye assaulted | and
mutilated by a
oes. fiend.
——
McCALL, Fran klin Pierce,
ts
tician, was accused of racket affiliations and was found
guilty of conspiracy and 12 felony counts of contriving
a lottery. The news made sensational headlines in Manhattan.
An aftermath of that trial packs a thought-provoking wallop
for the rest of the nation.
It is not our purpose to go into the pros and cons of that
case. We are citing it merely as an example. We are chiefly
interested in the words of Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey, words
which might be applied almost anywhere. He hailed the verdict
as a “reassertion of the ability of democracy to clean its own
house and cast out those who betray it.”
The prosecutor might have gone on to point out that in the
majority of cases it is not necessarily the individual but
the law itself which is on trial. It is the job of judge and jury
to see that the law is properly invoked and proper justice is
meted out to the defendant.
American jurisprudence has often been much maligned; but
just and untrammeled court is still a workable idea. It all
@: upon a little wholehearted cooperation all the way down
Wr line—that and a deep-rooted conviction that the law is
bigger than any man or woman who comes before it for a
hearing.
[: A RECENT trial James J. Hines, New York City poli-
¢ > 5
‘3 V HEN Franklin P. McCall sat down in the electric sate \
at Raiford, Fla., to pay with his life for the kidnap-murder
of 5-year-old Jimmy Cash, he exercised the customary right
of the condemned to make a final statement. He scoffed at
the idea of capital punishment as a crime deterrent and then
drew a peculiar parallel between himself and the crucifixion of
Jesus Christ.
a Said McCall: ‘Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ for 30
“ \ pieces of silver. It would be interesting subject matter to
know just how much some received who were instrumental
in the perpetration of this present day crucifixion. .. .”
I wouldn't pretend to know what McCall had in his mind
when he hurled the phrase, “Judas Iscariot,” at the execution
witnesses.
stole into the bedroom of little “Skeegie’”’ Cash—how the tiny
victim had made no outcry because he recognized the big friend
upon whose broad shoulders he had so often ridden piggy-back.
Perhaps the kidnap-slayer had forgotten how he joined the
’ searching parties, innocent of mien, in a mock effort to find the
heinous criminal: Perhaps he had forgotten his past associations
with the family—how he extorted $10,000 in blood money from
| his friends, the grieving parents, for the return of a child who
even then was lying dead in the palmetto scrub.
Judas Iscariot ?
mantle really falls?
2
e pee
O NE of the nicer things about this job is the frequent letter
of commendation which hits my desk. One of. the more
» recent is from Mrs. R. R. S., of Santa Maria, Calif. After
¥ 60
mA
Perhaps McCall had forgotten the night when he |
I wonder upon whose shoulders that black )
| salty as he could.
white, electrocuted Florida (Dade) on on n 2=2li-19396
DYN “AMITE. ‘DETECTIVE aly 19396
telling me that she is not in the habit of writing letters to
editors Mrs. S. says: ‘However, Dynamic DETEcTIVE, I
believe, has merited a great deal of praise in my circle of
friends that just must not go unsung.”
Describing the missionary work which she employed to con-
vert her friends into DyNAmic readers, she says: “I have
brought them to realize the importance of being acquainted
with the methods of operation of the criminal and their duty
as law-abiding citizens to be prepared to aid our officers at
any time in bringing these criminals to justice... .
“Tt is the duty of “each and every citizen to put forth every
effort to stamp out crime. We cannot overcome an issue by
ignoring it; and to overcome the fact that crime does exist
we must acquaint ourselves with the facts—and to do so, we
must read facts.”
And that is exactly what we are constantly trying to do—
to acquaint our readers with the facts in order that ‘they may
at all times be in a position to assist law enforcement officers
and to aid in crime suppression.
¢ ° >
HOSE who prey upon the aged and blind are the lowest
vermin on earth. No penalties are too harsh for them. The
letter of the law usually lets them off too easily. Fortunately
the “letters” can sometimes be rearranged. Such was the case
when Justice Alfred Hofman, in New York Special Sessions
court, presided over the trial of one of these rats. The judge
couldn’t find words to express his feeling but he gave a good
idea.
“There is nothing in the. English language to fit such a
low character,” he said to David Harris, 52, arrested for fleec-
ing clients of the welfare department. “You not only stole
from the aged but from the blind, It is a shame they
couldn’t send you to prison for life... .”
Harris had ‘posed as a physician when he visited the homes
of the aged and robbed them. Since none of the thefts amounted
to more than $13 he could not be indicted for a felony. Instead
he was arraigned for petty larceny and for practicing medicine
| without a license. On separate char ges Harris was found guilty
| and sentenced to three 3-year terms in the penitentiary. They
/are to be served consecutiv ely.
It’s too bad the “meanest man” got off that easily; but
/ Justice Hofman gets my thanks for “making the sentence as
I like to see that kind of justice handed out.
° ¢ >
CPEAKING in Philadelphia recently before a citizens’ com-
mittee formed to improve the House of Detention, James V.
Bennett, director of the U. S. Bureau of Prisons, said there
is “one system of justice for the rich and another for the poor.”
Continuing his address, he said: ‘A well-to-do person sus-
pected of having committed a crime can obtain bail, pay a
fine or be released upon his personal bond, but the man ‘without
friends or funds is thrown in jail until his case can be reached.”
There’s a little item for our justice-minded legislators to
\ mull over.
o a *
OMING up in the next issue of DyNAMIC DETECTIVE is a
yarn that I know you're going to like. I’m calling it the
“Case of the Chivalrous Killer.” In addition to a most unusual
motive the story features some outstanding detective work by
Missouri sleuths who started from scratch, covered a lot of
inter-state territory and cleaned up a well nigh unsolvable
-case. Watch for it! I’ll be seeing you again in June.
—YOUR EDITOR.
Ay
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met ‘Miss Dorothy:
ae ¥ ry preparing
dive into Ever
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ae
“Stop Thief” cries breught capture to ‘defiant
_Joseph Fulgiere, 29, paroled convict, who hid under
a trolley car. He was chased by 500 irate citizens
2 after he had taken $2100 from a New York market.
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For Cash Child’s Kidnaping
Yeuth Electrocuted After
Desperate Legal Fight
Proves in Vain.
RAIFORD, Peb. 4, ()—Calmly,
almost defiantly, Pranklin Pierce
McOall died in Florida's electric
ehair here today for the fatal, ran-
tty
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United States Supreme Court.
Justices Black and Prankfurter
declined to halt the execution. The
United States Circuit Court of Ap-
peals at New Orleans, two Federa!
District courts and the Florida 8u-
preme Court also refused to inter-
fere. The State Pardon Board
dGemied McCall's plea for clemency
anid Governor Fred P. Cone did
not issue a last minute reprieve as
McCall confidently hoped.
Hides Shaven Head.
McCall “dreased up” for his date
with death. He wore a dark gray
suit, a hat, a white shirt, a blue
necktie, dark socks, and slippers.
- He Kept his hat on until guards
removed it to place the black mask
and the electrode on his head. His
guards said he wore his hat because
he was ashamed of his shaven
head.
However, he looked Grotesque as
he sat there in the big
chair, reading his last statement
while three of four attendants
strapped him into place. His hat
was too big for hig shaven head
and slipped down onto his ears. His
sult also was too large for him.
Hig shirt was wrinkled and the ocol-
lar didn't fit, so that the necktie
slipped to one side. Months in the
death cel] had made him pale as
chalk but he did not seem afraid.
McCall appeared just as self-eon-
fident as when he Joined in the big
manhunt for the Cash child after
he was not returned to hig parents
despite the payment of the $10,000
raneom demanded in three notes.
Later he confessed that he kid-
naped the boy, smothered him—
accidentally, he claimed—wrote the
notes and collected the money.
Sheriff D. C. Coleman of Dade
County (Miami) threw the switch
which sent 2100 volts of electricity
through McCall's body at 11:08 A.
M. The sheriff had waited while
McCall
THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jacksonville)
Saturday,
25 February 1939.
One Interruption.
Once while he was reading his
atatement and the guards were
strapping him in the chair, McCall
paused and leaned over to examine
a leg strap. “Will you make that a
bit tighter?” he asked the attend-
ant. Then he resumed his reading
and even called out the punctua-
tion marks in his copy.
He apologised for addreasing the
80 or more witnesses from the
chair, explaining he had had his
apine tapped for a medical exami-
mation yesterday and the ordeal
had left him weak.
McCall died easily, without any
of the nervous spasms which often
accompany death by electrocution.
current
Dr. W. E. Murphy, the prison
physician, and Dr. Kenneth Phillips
pronounced McCall offi-
clally dead at 11:16, eight rainutes
after the
Hoover and his G-Men.
he witnesses had left the
. convicts who work in the
the afternoon.
MeCall in his statement from the
Geath chair, eaid “One of the most
—
a
614. .—Fila. 185 SOUTHERN REPORTER
from the evidence that he was not so en-
titled, he sentenced the defendant to be
punished by death in the manner provided
by the laws of Florida.
[4] Section 3 of the Declaration of
Rights of this State provides:
“The right of trial by jury shall be se-
cured to all, and remain inviolate forever.”
Section 11 of the Declaration of Rights
provides:
“Tn all criminal prosecutions, the accused
shall have the right to a speedy and public
trial, by an impartial jury.”
There can be no doubt that where the
statute authorizes the acceptance of a plea
of guilty of a capital offense that the ac-
cused may waive the constitutional right
to trial by jury by a plea of guilty and
have the evidence submitted to the trial
court to determine the degree of punish-
ment within the statutory limitations to be
administered. Sections 6095 and 6696, R.
G.S., sections 8400 and 8401, C.G.L., con-
fer such power and the provisions of
Chapter 16063, supra, are not in contiict
with, but are in accord with, these sec-
tions.
We could cite innumerable authorities to
sustain this enunciation but the highest au-
thority on such questions in this Country
is the Supreme Court of the United States
and that Court has definitely settled for
all time the constitutionality of such stat-
utes. In the case of Hallinger vy. Davis,
146 U.S. 314, 13 S.Ct. 105, 36 L.Ed. 986,
it was said:
“Tallinger, the appellant, was on the
l4th day of April, 1891, indicted by the
grand jury of Hudson county for the
murder of one Mary Hallinger. On the
14th day of April, 1891, he pleaded guilty,
whereupon the court ordered the said plea
of guilty to be held in abeyance, subject
to said defendant’s consultation with coun-
sel, then assigned for the purpose of con-
sultation concerning said plea. On the
17th day of April, A.D.1891, the defendant
and his counsel again appeared and insist-
ed on said plea of guilty; whereupon the
said court continued said assignment of
counsel, and ordered said defendant to be
present on Tuesday, April 28, 1891, at an
cxamination to determine the degree ot
guilt under said plea to be then and there
had by said court. On the 28th day of
April, 1891, the court, composed of Knapp
and Lippincott, justices, in the presence of
the defendant and his counsel, heard evi-
dence ‘concerning the degree of defena-
ant’s guilt; and on the 12th day of May,
1891, the court adjudged the defendant
guilty of murder in the first degree, and
committed him to the custody of the jailor
of Hudson county, to be confined in the
common jail of said county until Tuesday,
the 30th day of June, A.D.1891, on which
day he was condemned to be hanged.
“Article 1, § 7, of the constitution of the
state of New Jersey provides: ‘The right
of a trial by jury shall remain inviolate,
but the legislature may authorize the trial
of civil suits, when the maiter in dispute
does not exceed fifty dollars, by a jury of
six men.’ Section 68 of the criminal pro-
cedure act of the state of New Jersey
provides: ‘All murder which shall be per-
petrated by means of poison, or by laying
in wait, or by any other kind of willful,
deliberate, and premeditated killing, or
which shall be committed in. perpetrating
-Or in attempting’ to perpetrate any arson,”
tape, sodomy, robbery, or burglary, shall
be deemed murder in the first degree; and
all other kinds of murder shall be deemed
murder of the second degree; and the
jury, before whom any person indicted for
murder shall be tried, shall, if they find
such person guilty thereof, designate by
their verdict whether it be murder of the
first or second degree; but. if such person
shall be convicted on confession in open
court, the court shall proeced by examina-
tion of witnesses to determine the degree
of the crime, and give sentence accord-
ingly. ‘In his said petition the defendant
alleged that said section 68 of the criminal
procedure act of New Jersey is in viola-
tion of the constitution of the United
States and of the state of New Jersey, and
that his sentence and detention are illegal.
He also states that, by virtue of the stat-
utes and laws of the state of New Jersey,
no right of appeal in murder cases exists,
and he has no right to appeal to any highes
court in the state ta review or annul said
illegal judgment and sentence.
“On the 30th day of May, 1892, this ap-
plication for a writ of habeas corpus was
by the circuit court of the United States
for the district of New Jersey refused.
“Tt is contended on behalf of the ap-
pellant that the judgment and sentence of
the court of oyer and terminer of Hudson
county, N. J., whereby he is deprived of
his liberty and condemned to be hanged,
are void because the act of criminal pro-
cedure of the state of New Jersey, in
———
S ccaivcaesinintnial
McCall Pays Death
Penalty for Cash |
Child’s Kidnaping
a
Coatinued from Preceding Page
horrible aspects of this case is the
precedent it has established...
matters of far more importance
than my life were at stake... that
infinite something called justice ...
“according to the decisions ren-
dered relative to this case one may
be electrocuted within the bounds
of the world’s greatest democracy
without trial by jury, which is di-
rectly comtradictory to the Consti-
tution of these United States of
America. I maintain that the pub-
He is the law and vice versa. There-
fore, a recurrence of this tragedy
can be prevented.”
McCall's many futile court ap-
peals were based on his claim that
he had been sentenced to be the
first to go to the electric chair
wnder Florida's “Lindbergh law”
without trial by jury. The. courts,
however, said he gave up his right
to trial by jury when he pleaded
guilty. .
Praises Chapasan.
He called attention to the four
days of life granted him by the
superintendent Monday, say-
“I would be despicably unappre-
ciative if I failed, at this time, to
give t praise to Superintend-
ent L. P. Chapman for the most
humane act in Florida's crimina)
history—the temporary postpone-
ment of my execution. Col. Chap-
man has been severety criticised for
thia act. But mark my word—the
word of a man who will be dead
in a few minutes—e day is com-
ing when he will be praised for
i.
“TI have repeatedly asked to be
taken in any court before any judge
and jury and be injected with truth
serum and to be given lie detector
have my fingerprints com-
pared with any found at the scene
of the crime and my handwriting
compared with that of the alleged
ransom notes—to be put through
However, Sheriff Coleman — the
man who caught McCall last June
and executed him today—eald “He}
was absolutely guilty. I had no
doubt about it then (last June) and
I have no doubt now.”
Werley Also Certain.
Attorney George Worley,
ehaven head.
McOal) finished his prepared
etatethent with a denial that he
fels any bitterness toward “my
pepeceutors and my executor (ex-
euutioner).” He said. he had em-
traced retigien and wished to thank
the ohaplain “for his invaluable
guidance in this matter.”
‘ Wiis last words to the witnesses
were “Aus wiedershehen.” Only
Mort time before he had said good-
te his young wife, Mrs. Claudine
his uncle, Amos MéeCail,
|
a
=z
and his brother, Byrd McCall, al)
of Jasper. His mother visited him
for the last time yesterday.
Mr, and Mrs. James Bailey Cash
of Princeton, Fla, parents of the
child McCall ped and killed,
did not come to ti® prison today.
They talked with McCall in ‘ cell
Just before his scheduled execution
Monday. A friena of the family
said they “came to make peace with
Frank” who once roomed at thetr
ar he had
ter Be had finish
statement, MoCal! fe Abort
Matthews of the Miami Daily News
by name and said he wanted the
reporter to have the original copy
of the statement, ‘so you'll get it
word for word and because ‘vV
been so fair to me.” youve
McCall handed the four sheets to
Chaplain Shepherd who later gave
them to Matthews. The Miami
Daily News copyrighted the text
and published it.
70 go out to Krome
several different
‘ent sections of the
den, that were tak-
; and watching for
nts; and I believe
iid he want to go
what you did later
ao
3 o’clock. I stay-
that was parked in
- minutes. I don’t
vent east on Sun-
in front of John
into this grove for
i then east again
ad. At about the
of trees then and
ack I stopped and
z bur I didn’t know
s almost by, and I
“oc him ?
sn with me I recog-
2him or his car?
> him, what did you
ight that has been
:? You saw it this
2. Cash do?
out, went in front
money that was in
ne tase of a tele-
the corner of John
Jerty.
ere vou from Mr.
2 money in the box
‘peak ot?
or further.
iM ish?
McCALL v. STATE ‘Fila. 613
185 So.
“Q. Speak any word to him?
“A. No sir.
“Q. Did he speak any word to you?
“A. No sir. No words were spoken.
“OQ. Was there any message passed be-
tween you other than the flashing of your
flashlight ?
“A. No sir.
“QO. Did he blink the light on his car,
give any signal of that sort?
“A, I don’t think he did.
“O. After he placed the money in the
place that you speak of he got back in his
car and drove off?
“A, Yes sir.
“Q. Then what did you do?
“A, I walked up where he placed the
money, picked up the shoebox, turned
around and went back into the grove the
same route I had taken coming into it.
About the center of the grove I opened the
box, the shoebox, took the money out of
‘the newspaper in which it was wrapped.
I took the first stack of bills, which were
five-dollar bills, off the stack, and in doing
so the band was broken and I just put the
money in a wad in my pocket. Went back
through the rear of the grove and came
back on Sunset Drive at the same route I
had taken going in. At the corner of Mr.
John Chamber’s property the rock fence,
there was a rock fence, I threw the $9,750
into this corner in the weeds.”
[2,3] Chapter 16063, supra, is as fol-
lows:
“An Act to Amend Section 5038, Re-
vised General Statutes, Being Section 7160,
Compiled General Laws of Florida, 1927,
Relating to Kidnapping and Punishment
Therefor.
“Be It Enacted by the Legislature of
the State of Florida:
“Section 1. That Section 5058 Revised
General Statutes, being Section 7160 Com-
piled General Laws of Florida, 1927, relat-
ng to kidnapping and punishment there-
“for, be and the same is hereby amended
to read as follows:
“Whoever without lawful authority,
forcibly or secretly confines, imprisons, in-
veigles or kidnaps any person, with intent
to hold such person for a ransom to be
paid for the release of such person, or any
person or persons who aids, abets or in
any manner assists such person or persons
in such confining, imprisoning, inveigling
or kidnapping such person shall be guilty
of kidnapping a person and shall be punish-
ed by death unless a majority of the jury
shall recommend the defendant to the
mercy of the Court, in which event th-
punishment shall be by imprisonment fo
life in the State prison.’
“Section 2. All laws and parts of laws
in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.
“Section 3. This Act shall take effect im-
mediately upon becoming a law.”
In pari materia with this Act must be
read and considered sections 6095, R.G.S..,
sections 8400, C.G.L, and 6096, R.GS.,
8401, C.G.L. See Heirs of Bryan v. Den-
nis et al., 4 Fla. 445; Ferrari v. Board of
Health, 24 Fla. 390, 5 So. 1; Liggett Co.
v. Amos, 104 Fla. 609, 141 So. 153; Amos
v. Conkling, 99 Fla. 206, 126 So. 283. The
sections involved are as follows:
“8400. Recommendation to mercy—In
all criminal trials, the jury, in addition to
a verdict of guilty of any offense, may rec-
ommend the accused to the mercy of the
court Or to’ executive clemency, and such’
recommendation shall not qualify the ver-
dict except in capital’cases. In all cases
the court shall award the sentence and
shall fix the punishment or penalty pre-
scribed by law.
“S401. Same effect tn capital cases.—
Whoever is convicted of a capital offense
and recommended to the mercy of the
court by a majority of the jury in their
verdict, shall be sentenced to imprisonment
for life, and may be sentenced to solitary
confinement at the discretion of the court;
or if found by the judge of the court,
where there is rio jury, to be entitled to a
recommendation to mercy, shall be sentenc-
ed to imprisonment for life, with or with-
out solitary confinement, at the discretion
of the court.”
So when the statutory provisions are
read and considered in pari materia the
phrase in chapter 16063, “unless a majori-
ty of the jury shall recommend the defend-
ant to the mercy of the Court, in which
event the punishment shall be by imprison-
ment for life in the State prison.” was
only a reiteration of the statutory law of
this State as it then existed under the sec-
tions of prior statutes above quoted.
And so it is that the record shows that
when the defendant entered the plea of
guilty the Circuit Judge proceeded under
the provisions of the statute to determine
whether or not the defendant was entitled
to recommendation to mercy and, finding
6, Pe
MCKINNEY, C. D., black g 3 Ktited » Nad G aa 0 p y
| fou /t- TSG. hes é
Taproduted: by
FLORIDA STATE ARCHIVES
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
R. A. GRAY BUILDING
STATE OF FLORID Ae Talahassea, FL 32399-0259
Series Lhe Carton 4
EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
WHEREAS, Application has been made to me for a respite
of the death sentence ordered to be executed upon one
: | C. C. Me Kinney
convicted of Murder in the first Ainpspie and sentenced to be
hanged within the enclosure of the County Jail of Dade County
Florida, on the 30th day of Novenber, A.D. 1917; |
AND WHEREAS, An application has been presented to this
office by the citizens of Dade County including the State
Attorney of the KLleventh Judicial Uirenit of the State of Florida,
“urging that a brief postponement of the date for tke execution
of the death warrant heretofore issued in this matter, on account
of the fact that on the 2th day of November the Deeper Waterways
Convention meet in Miami, the County site of Dade county, and
they feel that it will not be expedient to have the execution at
that time, And further, that the ends of Justice will not suffer
by granting this brief postponment of the execution,
NOW THEREFORE, acting under the authority vested in
me as GOVERNOR OF THE STATE oy FLO.IDA, I do hereby grant a
reprieve to the said C. C. Moxinney for & period of seven days
from the 30th day of November, A.D. 1917, at tne termination of
which time the warrant for his execution will be enforced-.unless
otherwise ordered by competent authority. {i
IN TESTINCHY WHEREOP I have hereunto set my hand and |
caused the Great Seal of the State of Ploriia to be affixed at |
Tallahassee, the Captial, this tho 15th day of November, A.D. 1917.
(Great Seal of tho State} Sidney J. Catts
( of Plorida,. — GOVERNORS
| pee Le fb A «fam
BY THis GOVERNOR AT?PES'?:
H. Clay Crawford %- hes iar Mle
“eg a
a r
ye , EL hay eee, OFC Notary Public, State of Floriia at res
My Comurssion Expiros Mocca |
ont, fe
MCKINNEY,
Clarence D.,
v
* .
s
eA Cn UAT ok, Moe Er een Dae = i catenin. swe eSiccaig
PAGE SDC he REBT ArerRe Patan ee
1 F ais oe aa ie ay Wa Lai fg
an
‘NO LAST WORD.
~ AT EXECUTION?
Negro Hanged Yesterdays Morne
ing In Dade ‘County: Jail? For”
The Murder |Of Rev. 4’
‘ James Bolton.
.MOTTERED FINAL PRAYER
And The Trap Was . Sprung—
* Death Instantaneos-—B ade.
Farewell To His Mother
al And Sister,
{
i.
Clarence McKinney was hanged on
the gallowx in the Dade county fail
yesterday for the murder of the Rev.
‘James Bolton, who was shot to death
by the negro at Cocoanat Grove on the
afternoon of December 12 last. - “4
1” MtKinney went to his death quietly
and gave no trouble to the officials.
It could be plainly seen) however, that
.the condemned man was extremely
nervous and he swayed back and forth
while the deputy sheriffs were. tying
and binding his legs ang adjusting the
noose about his neck.’
, The hanging was jn accordance
with the arrangements made by Sher-
‘iff Moran and his deputies. There
: Was.no confusion whatsoever, and but
' for the crowd that congregated out.
side the county jail. during the hour
_ of the execution no one would have
; known that anything usual was oc-
ranged by the sheriff Thursday,‘ and
McKinney himself. knew ‘of the cer-
tainty of.his fate beforehand and was
governed accordingly.
adviser,. the Rev.. Mr. | Erwin,’ arch
deacon eine Episcopal church and
OF M'KINNEY|s"
Le; 5) 4 dHalts to the condemned murderer, who
” a ‘| became resigried to his fate more than
&@ month ago when the death warrant
wus read to him in his celle °
o’clock and McKinney was pronownews
dead a few minutes later, a
body was allowed to hang for a pe-}
riod of thirty minutes; when ‘it? was
cut down and ‘turned over to Under-
takers Carter’'& Pharr, who will] con-
duct the funeral on Sunday,
the. county commissioners turn over
the $14 allowed for the burial. to his
relatives, who would edd to this the
amount necessary to defray funeral
expenses, .
meanor up to the last and had no
final statement to make, When asked
if he had anything to say the negro
shook his‘head and sald in a quiet
tone: “I haven'teanything at all to
say.” This was followed by a mut-
tered prayer which could hardly be
heard by those standing near him. °
Sheriffs Williams and McDade, while
Sheriff M
hind him, frequently assisted the con-
demned man in maintaining his stand.
ing position. | ‘ iy
Sheriff Will
ence,” and the body shot down through
the trap door, where {t swung suB-
pended into the lower floor of the fall.
physicians to. examine‘ the body and
{when Dr. :E.:K, 'Jaudon mounted this
‘
., All plans for the : ging were ar-
o Bet ’
and felt. of the. pulse die pronounced
His’ spiritual
t, Agnes colored church of
is. elty, has been making regular
The drop fell promptly at 10:20
though the
It was the negro’s last request that
Had No Final Word, |
McKinney maintained his calm de-
The man was bound by. Deputy
Oran, who stood directly, be-
Everything Vin “readiness, "Dep y
iams said, “Goodbye, Clar-
A ‘scaffold had‘ been’ built for the
ae o S:
Mam) HEBD ¥
Manis, Hoida-
=e ee eT
° .
denith instantaneous, The county phy-
alcian was arsist@ in the examination
by Dr. H.C, Babcock and Dr, W. Sz
dred people, who were allowed to pass
into the corridor of the jail and take
a final view, -Many of these were
peetoes who had known McKinney jn
@,
Long before the hour for the exe-
cution a crowd of colored and white
People congregated at the jail to try
and geta glimpse of the hanging, but
all were excluded except the officials
and those who had received permits
from the sheriff, Only a limited num-
ber of these Passes were given out and
Mother and Slater Called.
Early esterday morning McKinney
to get within the Jail were disappoint.
e mother and sister were with
the condemned man for more than
an hour until the Rev, Mr. Erwin ar-
rived, and the balance of the time was
passed in prayer,
low by McKinney, Who was sup-
por by Deputy sSheritts Williama
The crime for which McKinney pald
the death penalty yesterday ig sti}!
fresh in the minds of the People of this
ity, to death the
Rev, James Bolton, an aged white
man who had’ formerly been a clergy-
man at: Cocoanut Grove. The negro
who went to the white man with her
trouble, McKinney heard of this and
against the: aged
man, After the shooting McKinney
said that he shot -Dr. Bolton because
he meddled with his family affairs,
nav,
requested that only hig mother and |
nister be admitted ‘to see him and 4
large crowd of his friends who hoped |
had had some trouble with his wife, |'
e mR >
er
O°: Semen ee eseme.
noel ensts nf.
os ne have Stticned” “Eo “tits “applica tTGa fora ommu at on: <of"
kh
=o
; Gh vio TEED BTL A SO PIM TRBIZOMRTHD
TO git IOVS Ob LMAPGHO TayIne acs YY CcOMINGYLICH
Di Ry mw pe died rs, aro ef Biss WO natY Th reer 0%, O°O*TONT CTT} bee 4
Aud 2o0. Sy “nee MATTER OF THE APPLICATION ‘OF C<C.MCKINNEY
ceryee +. 20 THE BOARD OF PARDONS, ASKING. FOR.A COMMUTATION.
a “OF THE DEAT FENANES 20 LIFE IMPRISIOMENT< ©
SLPgICy FA te ie y. wpttoe § ager Set eat eT PooBar eh
{ DN eels, 3s ee ey ea FE cout OF TRE “CASE. ~ ar o Jt
: TMA netwe e $f : wey a “oor eg ther a bs ak Sega he ons
ek: i .
me “On the llth day of December, A.D.°1916,"C.C.McKinney,
Pon ee
“negro. "Living in 6ocoanut “Grove, "Dade County, Florida’ * Shot to
We
death Cum. Bolton of the sam place and for which “homic&de ‘he ‘was
tried ih ‘the Circuit Court of said County charged with murder in
lthe ‘tirst degree and convicted as charged “without ‘réccommenda~
tion's for. mercy. An appeal of the case was taken’ to the Supreme —
Court of Florida, but owing to the record being bungled the Su- ,
{te ‘Ss
|prene ‘Court could not pass upon “the evidence, eee ce “fudgnont
los” ‘the ‘Lower court was affirmed ‘and big epplivat, 4g .CcKinndy
ig now r wader ‘Bentence of dedti.”
its, man towerda erty a eb ae
| sentence ‘the ‘stenographic report of ‘the ‘gourt ‘stenographer wide
ét 0 1a ae " Soka th St my ys
of be ap is ‘an ‘authentic. “récord. srigHy? Puedes the, "testi
niony witch 1 is full ana “complete before “this ‘Honorable ‘Body: we
will state that there peemed: to ‘be no real motive for the killing
ce Bolton. ‘Some officers ‘approached ‘McKinney for the purpose of
hailing him before the Justice of the Péace at Cocoanut Grove
ws
and” ‘Sequiring him to executé a ‘Béace Bona, the arfiaavit’ ‘paving
been sworn to by McKinnéy's wife. MeKinney asked leave’ to go
ra try 3h
ints the” house which the officer “granted, ostensibly to. ‘get his
| coat, “but instead éf doing 30, “@rank' some § strong ‘narcotic. ‘the |
trae (Qe niet oe. :
neture’ of which we van only surmise, carter ah pistol went.
out “by the back way of his house over ‘to* ‘gaia’ Bolton' 3" “a dis-
tance of some two hundred yards and after a’ ‘few ‘Words with Bol-
Ved *e
ton firea i four ‘shots into “hia yoay, ‘diling lie Ss nstantre.*
Lee
During the trial McKinney testi tiea ‘to having bought some
ae Ae ied
| Goncoction from ‘a Nassau negro, the mature of which he’ aia not”
know, but said it was warranted by the negro to be a fine thing
£63 “the nerves. Mekinney furhher testified that prior to the
ethacd i are Wis
ey,
time that the officérs came to the house he bed: taken several dade
“e a ee SE Le
i
rf | a i OER EO ATR
ade a Wee : ob “3S perk: seneame peal
116
house to my house on Tallahassee
Road. I first expected to keep him
in my house and keep him there until
I could get one of the means of
transportation my father-in-law, Mr.
Hilliard, has, and I expected to use
this means of transportation’ in tak-
ing him from my house to the. old
house at the corner of Silver Palm
Drive and Newton Road.
FRANKLIN PIERCE MCCALL
McCall’s confession makes no mention
of his attempt to lay the blame for the
kidnaping on Asbury Cash, but he dic-
tated and signed a one-page confession on
June 10th, fully exonerating the brother
of any participation in the crime.
1S eer the confession was complete the
wheels of justice moved swiftly. A
coroner’s jury was called at Homestead by
Justice of the Peace Sid L. Kendrick. The
boy’s father was the first witness. In a
voice barely audible to the jurors he told
of paying the ransom money; of receiv-
ing the ransom notes and ended his brief
testimony by identifying the pajamas
taken from the body. Inspector E. J.
Connelley read McCall’s confession into
the records and Dr. Thomas Otto testified
as to the condition of the body, and de-
clared that death was due either to suffo-
cation or strangulation. The jury reached
a verdict without leaving their seats. It
contained exactly twenty words:
We, the jury, find that James
Bailey Cash, Jr. came to his death
at the hands of Franklin Pierce Mc-
Call.
The verdict was returned Saturday,
June 11th, just fourteen days after Skeegie
was snatched. State’s Attorney. G. A. Wor-
ley called a special session of the grand jury
for Monday, June 13th. Three indictments.
two charging McCall with a first degree
murder and one charging him with kid-
naping for ransom, were returned Tues-
day. He was immediately arraigned be-
fore Judge H. F, Atkinson and entered
a plea of guilty to the kidnaping charge,
and pleas of not guilty to the two murder
charges. He had no attorney and a num-
ber of lawyers suggested by the. Court. to
defend him declined, declaring that their
prejudice prevented them from entering
the case. Jack Kehoe, former Assistant
County Solicitor, appointed by the Court,
True Detective Mysteries
State’s Attorney G. A. Worley (left)
reads the grand jury indictment to
the kidnaper who stands, with head
bowed, between Sheriff D. C. Coleman
(right) and Deputy Sheriff Joseph
Conderman ~*
finally agreed to represent the self-con-
fessed kidnaper when he was arraigned for
trial, Wednesday, June 15th.
At ten o’clock Wednesday morning,
hundreds sought to squeeze into the court-
room. Nearly fifty deputy sheriffs and city
policemen struggled to hold back the
crowd, Each person being admitted to the
courtroom was carefully searched. McCall,
wearing a freshly pressed suit and appear-
ing to be calmer than any other person in
the room, was surrounded by half a score
of deputy sheriffs as he took his place in
the prisoner’s box. The proceedings moved
swiftly,
Again the father was the first witness.
He told briefly of seeing McCall in his
store at 9:30 on the night of the crime.
He told about procuring the ransom
money from the bank and delivering it
to the kidnaper. He identified photostatic
copies of the ransom notes and finished
his testimony by identifying the child’s
sleeping garment.
Mrs. Cash followed her husband to the
stand. McCall, sitting only a few feet
wway, covered his faee with a handker-
chief as the woman told of putting little
Skeegie to bed on the fatal night and of
returning a few minutes later to find him
gone,
“What was he wearing the last time you
saw him?” asked State’s Attorney Worley
as softly as possible.
“One-piece rose and white pajamas,” she
replied,
Then came her most trying ordeal, a
view of the pajamas. Worley opened but
a corner of the box.
“Can you identify these?” he asked.
Tears came into her eyes.
“Yes, I can. They were my son’s.”
Inspector E, J. Connelley of the FBI
was the next witness. His. testimony
helped to clear up points not revealed in
the confession. The G-man testified that
McCall first started talking on the night
of June 7th, at which time he confessed
writing the ransom notes and collecting
the money. He named Asbury as the
actual kidnaper and continued to stick
to the story. On the morning of June 8th,
McCall told the agents where the money
was hidden and offered to lead them to
the, logical spot where his “accomplice,”
Asbury, might have thrown the body, In-
spector Connelley told how McCall had
led the agents over several false trails
upon the night the body was found while
pretending to be searching for it, and how
he had eventually led them to the twisted
pine. He also told of the final breakdown
on Thursday, June 9th, at which time
McCall, lying on a cot at FBI Head-
quarters, dictated an eleven-page confes-
sion assuming full and sole responsibility
for the entire crime. In attempting to
link the dead boy’s uncle with the murder.
McCall said that he had learned that
Asbury and his son had been alone in
their home on the night of the kidnaping.
and that the son had gone to sleep and
could not positively testify that his father
had not left the house.
Agents who copied the serial numbers
of the rtnsom bills, who searched for and
found the ransom money in the fence
corner, and who removed the boy’s body
from the palmetto thicket, followed in
swift procession,
McCall was the last witness. He frankly
admitted every allegation contained in his
confession, He identified a flashlight and
the knife used to cut the screen door,
story pale in comparison.
lessly to close in.
A remarkable story will appear next month in this ma
Sixty thousand young men, gathered together at one spot—
1918. A bitter winter blast is whistling in from the northwest.
drops to 15, then to 22. This vast city under military rule is
In the space of a few minutes, four men are brutally killed and a fifth lies with his life hanging by a thread. But that |
weak thread that remains is to draw this man back to consciousness and his trembling finger is to be pointed at the killer
under most dramatic circumstances, as set forth in this fact tale of death and revenge, that makes the most thrilling fiction
in these pages. Picture the multiple murderer, an officer,
until the killer, is located and arrested. Picture the suspen
Whispers pass and the officer commences to suspect that his identity is known.
on to certainty ... and right there is born a desperate plan in his fear-maddened mind... .
HORROR AT CAMP FUNSTON
gazine on a type of criminal case of which the public rarely hears.
Camp Funston—in war time on the night of January 11th,
Early in the evening the temperature stands at 10 below zero, |
preparing for sleep when a phantom of murder breaks loose. |
A young officer, then a member of the 340th Machine Gun Battalion of the 89th Division, was at the scene and the
story he tells to our readers next month we believe will long be remembered as, one of the most arresting tales ever to appear
locked in among the sixty thousand men all. under surveillance
se as the hours move slowly forward and the net begins relent-
DON'T MISS THIS MOST REMARKABLE STORY!
Suspicion finally moves
In vir
charge
was no |
two mur
trial, Jud
would pi
Thursday
At 9:55
room thr:
was alres
faced the
“Have :
reason to
be passed
“No, ye
After v
demonsty;
son prono
“Saying
influence
and the (
finds that
kidnaping
Bailey Ca
be kept |
the Gover
appoint fo
time and
be inflicte:
through yx
... and ;
soul,”
Just nin:
Was snatc!
was on his
this was
100 per c
enforceme:
together in
In revic
mented on
plot was
ransom mo
a mile fro:
kidnaper's
from the p
and recove!
a mile fron
a mile fro
Hoover an
of the boy.
were found
Selection
sentences f
Blackett ¢
and pleads
across with
Finney bid
Donald to ;
even went
much gold
waiting for
tion job.
The cach
tal more th:
$505,000 in
amalgam; §
—2,000 pow
Agent X
his attention
stead of thi
ingly, the S
in Nogales,
der, where i:
Kennedy fo;
the border.
MeDohald
ing a decoy
he knew Sev
Nogales, wat
McDonald
mained © stu!
money until
fell through.
essence of Mr. J. Edgar
or, Federal Bureau of
°. J. Connelley, Inspee-
wn free will without
reat of any kind. I
ement because I wish
1 of things which have
» recent past.
‘—well, ever since we
we've done without
wife did without things
id have had. I thought
verything to get money.
‘esperate, I don’t know.
a job until about two
e kidnaping took place.
ped into my mind to
dy and then I did not
lid not have a car. I
have to be some one
it I did not know who
oney. I did know that
-harles Chambers and
henberger were, what
oosition to arrange that
vut Eichenberger’s boy
was away at school so
-harlie Chambers’ boy
is always with his
iat was left was Bailey
x after I made up my
he first ransom note in
!d no one of my plans.
note on a scratch pad
od it on a piece of
t from a brown paper
note in the pocket of
sing in my home. On
lay 28th, I went to
‘ash’s store and asked
‘is. Mrs. Cash said it
rned and walked be-
and up to the rear
en of this door was
t it with my knife.
rge handkerchiefs in
I picked up Skeegie
arm and placed the
ver his mouth, eyes
in’t know I had his
went out the back
nh the underbrush to
sught he was asleep.
iny movement at all.
1e woods it took me
minutes to get home.
*k door. The house
knew Skeegie could
in the dark and I
n up. I shook him
ame, but he ditn’t
hen that he was un-
card that peopie wo
d could be restored
ition. I tried this.
oth, but I knew he
{ couldn’t wake him
now what to do. I
| went out the back
», and walking fast
in, back toward the
shes where he was
ed my way through
t old crooked pine
‘ere, then ran back
ut half a mile.
and went to John
I talked in a low
I had placed a note
for him to deliver
lollars, then went
anuel did not have
id I waited to hear
cd Princeton. He
pass my house to
he did not go by,
er from some meat
wrote the second
at the home of
y a few hundred
home). I put the
note on the screen door with a rubber
band. I sat in the living-room with
a magazine and waited, I started to
Princeton and met a string of cars
going south on Tallahassee Road.
Then the note was found on
Asbury’s door and the cars were go-
ing to Emanuel’s cabin. They stopped
and picked me up and I went with
them to Emanuel’s house.
Saturday night I rode around the
Redlands until about three o'clock
helping to search for the child. I
spent the night at Hal McLaughlin’s
(McLaughlin’s home is about one
block from James B. Cash’s home).
Sunday I ate dinner at Mrs. Hil-
liard’s (his mother-in-law) and Sun-
day afternoon we came over to Prince-
ton,
I was around Princeton in several
places, Monday. “Shorty” Cash car-
ried me home and I wrote the third
Tansom note on a scratch pad. About
11 or 11:15 p.m, I went to Hal Mc-
Laughlin’s and copied the note on a
Piece of brown paper. I burned the
note I had written on the scratch pad
and threw the ashes in the toilet. I
went over to the W. P, Cash filling
station where Harry Wright was talk-
ing on the telephone. After he fin-
ished the talking he locked the door,
We both sat down right outside the
door for two or three minutes, [|
Placed the note under the door and
Pushed it under with my pocket comb,
When I later went back to the sta-
tion with Harry to get the gas I
“found” the note and we telephoned
“Shorty” Cash at Homestead.
McCall then recited how he had gone
with “Shorty” to interce
boy’s father, wl
turning after a
the ransom mo
told of various
to.
Harry Wright found me and told
me that special agents at Bailey
Cash’s wanted to talk to us. The
special agents questioned us about
finding the note and we left. About
three o’clock I left Princeton and went
to Mr. Hilliard’s house and woke him
up and told him I was going to Home-
stead, knowing that he would decline
to go with me on account of not want-
ing to leave the folks alone. I stayed
in the truck beside the house a while
and then walked to Sunset Road to
the orange grove in front of John
Chambers’ house. I went into this
grove for a distance of about fifty
yards, then I walked to the spot where
I later flashed the light for Mr. Cash
to stop. The car almost Passed before
I recognized the fact that it was Cash’s
car. I flashed the light twice—and
he stopped the car as quickly as he
could. I think he left the motor run-
ning—I know he left the lights on—
walked around in front of the car and
tossed the shoe box somewhere near
the telephone pole. I waited until he
got back in his car. I walked directly
to where the shoe box was, picked it
up, went back into the grove. [|
opened the box while I was in the
grove and took 250 dollars from the
stack of money, and in doing this I
broke the band around the $250, and
placed the bills loosely in my pocket.
I kept the shoe box and newspaper
and came back almost in front of
Charles Chambers’ house. At the cor-
ner of a rock fence, I threw the money
over the fence, I thought into the
corner. I carried the shoe box and
pt the kidnaped
10 at that time was re-
futile attempt to deliver
ney. The kidnaper also
persons he met and talked
True Detective M: ystertes
the newspaper around it back down
to Mr. Hilliard’s, I tore the box into
several pieces and Placed them under
a rock in the palmetto grove about
30 yards in front of Mr. Hilliard’s
home. I took the newspaper the
money had been wrapped in and
Placed it in the toilet at Hilliard’s,
At 4:30 o’clock I went in Mr. Hil-
liard’s truck to Silver Palm Drive to
a place near Black Point and burned
the three ransom notes,
I then went back to Princeton. I
pulled into Hal McLaughlin’s drive-
way. I went to an old office in the
Tear of his house, lifted up the top
of an oil drum and dropped the $250
into the oil and closed the lid. I
talked to a number of People around
Princeton and then went down to
Homestead. I returned to Princeton
and since that time I Participated in
the search until Thursday night, June
2nd, 1938, when I was first brought to
Miami and questioned by agents there.
McCall halted in his confession at this
point to identify photos of the ransom
notes.
After being questioned on the night of
June 2nd, he was released and sent back
to Homestead in an FBI automobile, He
was picked up again by Sheriff Coleman
at the request of the FBI and returned to
their Headquarters. The confession con-
tinues:
After Preparing the ransom notes,
to make sure there were no finger-
prints, I wiped them off with a hand-
kerchief. I knew Bailey Cash did not
burn the first note and when I wrote
the last note I told him to inclose
the ransom notes in the box with the
money. I did not plan on having my
wife go to Jacksonville while I did
this, but after she had gone I decided
it would be a good opportunity to do
the kidnaping which I had previously
Planned and had thought of for some
time previous to the time I actually
kidnaped James Bailey Cash, Jr.
After taking the $250 out of the
ransom money and coming back to
Princeton, I became afraid it might
be found on me and I thought of the
oil drum at Hal McLaughlin’s, which
was the place I would have access to
without arousing anyone’s suspicion
at a later time when I wished to get
it out. I had no definite ,plans of
what I would do if I were successful
in getting the money, but I thought
I would stay around Princeton for
two or three months, I thought they
would take t12 numbers from the
money; I was sure they would. I
had in mind Partly the idea of Pass-
ing this money some time when I
went North on a truck trip.
At the northeast corner of Silver
Palm and Newton Roads there is an
old house about which the trees are
thick. I had looked at this house
and verified that it is vacant. When
I planned to kidnap Skeegie it was
my idea that I could use this house
to hide him. I expected to keep him
blindfolded while I was around and
to talk in a deep, low voice like I
used to talk to John Emanuel, In
taking Skeegie out of his house like
I said, before I Placed two large
handkerchiefs over his face in order
to cover his eyes so he could not see
me and over his mouth so he could
not make any sound, and I must have
Placed them too tightly over his nose
and this is probably the reason he
smothered to death while he was be-
ing taken by me from J. B. Cash’s
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114
“Where was the body found? Who is
Franklin Pierce McCall?”
Hoover cut them short with a wave of
his hand,
“Tl give you such details as may be
released at this lime,” he said. “The
body was recovered at three minutes past
midnight. McCall led us to the spot
just east of Bayview Road and north of
Sunset Drive. The body was lying face
upward at the base of a tall pine treé.
Death was caused by suffocation or stran-
gulation. The boy had been dead for sev-
eral days. The body was badly decom-
posed. Dr. Otto made an examination at
the scene. The body was taken to the
Turner Undertaking Establishment in
Homestead by an agent. McCall has not
confessed killing the boy or placing the
body where we found it. I cannot say
whether anyone else is implicated at this
time.
WALLY full name is Franklin Pierce
McCall. He is 21 years old, He was
born March 21st, 1917, at Jasper, Florida,
where his mother still lives and where his
uncle is a minister of a church. He gradu-
ated from the Jasper High School in June,
1934, and went to Princeton where he
found employment helping pack tomatoes
and driving a truck. At one time he
worked for the state road department as
a rod man. He has not been employed
recently,
“He was married to Claudine Evelyn
Hilliard of Princeton on January 9th,
1936. The Hilliard family is one of the
oldest and most respected in Princeton.
Until April 11th of this year, he and his
wife lived in an apartment upstairs over
the J. B. Cash store. He moved to his
present address on Tallahassee Road which
is about one block from where the ran-
som money was paid and about one-half
mile from whére we found the body. Mc-
Call’s father died last January. His father
was a minister and was pastor of a church
in Princeton for several years prior to
his death. Mrs. McCall was in Jackson-
ville when the kidnaping was perpetrated.
She returned to Princeton a few days ago.
I want it understood that Franklin McCall
has not confessed to killing the boy. but
he has confessed writing the ransom notes
and collecting the money. That is all I
can say at this time. The case is not yet
closed.”
Hoover handed each of the reporters
four photographs of the prisoner and the
conference was over. Immediately there
was a rush for telephones.
At two o’clock in the morning, Prince-
ton was seething again. Mrs, Cash col-
lapsed when the news was conveyed to her,
and the father too appeared ready to drop.
Tears came to the eyes of neighbors as
they witnessed the suffering of the parents,
Wilson Cash hurried to the side of his
brother Jim. Where was Asbury, the other
brother? From some mysterious source
it became noised about that Asbury was
being questioned by the G-men as McCall’s
accomplice, According to the story, Mc-
Call had made a complete confession
naming Asbury Cash as the actual kid-
naper and murderer, claiming that his
own part in the crime consisted only of
writing the notes and collecting the money,
Then it became known that McCall’s
pretty wife was at Headquarters, Thou-
sands waited for hours to catch a glimpse
of her as she emerged clinging to the arm
of her mother, FBI agents pushed a path
through the crowd and protected her fen
photographers until she entered a waiting
automobile and was whisked away. She
did not return to Princeton.
While the special agents worked fever-
ishly to clean up the case, a pitiful scene
was enacted at Homestead. The father
True Detective Mysteries
gazed at a tiny suit of white and rose
colored pajamas and_ identified them as
the ones worn by his son. He was unable
to enter the cold morgue room to identify
the broken figure on the shib, and. was
loo shocked to make funeral arrange-
ments, .
Wilson assumed charge and announced
that burial would be private. Only mem-
bers of the family assembled at the funeral
home for the services, and the mother,
from whom all emotion had been drained
through the ten days of waiting, faced
the ordeal as bravely as could be expected,
She was attended by a nurse and leaned
heavily on her husband’s arm as she took
her seat. She sobbed softly as Reverend
Dr. Everett §. Smith of the First Christian
Church of Miami said the rites, and was
still sobbing when four white-clad cousins
of the dead boy carried the casket to the
waiting hearse for the thirty-one mile trip
to Graceland Memorial Park in Miami.
As the sad procession passed through
TUNE IN!
TRUE DETECTIVE
MYSTERIES
ON THE AIR!
WLW Cincinnati—Tuesday 9 P.M., E.S.T.
WGN Chicago—Tuesday 9 P.M., C.D.T.
WOR Newark, N. J.—New York—Tuesday 10 P.M.,
E.D.T.
WFIL Philadelphia—Tuesday 10 P.M.. E.D.T.
WEEI Boston—Tuesday 10:30 P.M., £€.D.T.
WJAS Pittsburgh—Friday 8:15 OK.,: B.0.%.
WXYZ Detroit—Tuesday 9:30 P.M., E.S.T.
WHK Cleveland—Sunday 9:30 P.M., E.S.T.
KSD St. Louis—Friday 8:45 P.M., C.S.T,
WDAF Kansas City—Friday 9:15 P.M., C.S.T.
KSTP Minneapolis-St. Paul—Tuesday 9:30 P.M.,
KLZ Denver—Monday 9:00 P.M., M.S.T,
KFI Los Angeles—Thursday 7:15 P.M., P.a.T,
KSFO San Francisco—Saturday 8:30 P.M., P.S.T.
KEX Portland, Ore.—Tuesday 8:15 P.M., P.S.T.
Princeton, the entire populace stood with
bared heads beside the road. Motorists
along the route stopped and sat. with
bared heads while the cortége passed.
At the cemetery Mrs. Cash appeared on
the verge of collapse and had to be
assisted to her seat beside the grave. The
service was brief. A kind relative plucked
a spray of pink and yellow rosebuds from
the blanket of flowers on the coffin and
pressed it into the mother’s hand—a last
lingering token to help her remember
laughter that would be heard no more;
to comfort her in the darkness of the
room where there would .no longer be a
light burning as a beacon for a blond-
headed boy.
Even as the body of Skeegie was being
lowered into the grave, Tranklin P,
McCall began “cracking” under the strain
of a terrific grilling. For nearly forty-
eight hours he had maintained that
Asbury Cash had conceived the crime, did
the actual kidnaping and was responsible
for the boy’s death.
Realizing, finally, the futility of con-
tinued denial, McCall broke down and *
asked for a stenographer in order that he
might make a full and complete con-
fession. He admitted that he, and he
alone, conceived and carried out the entire
crime without the aid or assistance of any
one. Blaming the crime on Asbury was
his last desperate gesture .to escape punish-
ment for his brutal deed. In an eleven-
page confession, which later was intro-
duced in evidence at his trial. McCall re-
cited every detail of his heinous crime.
Miami, Florida
June 9th, 1938
I, Franklin Pierce McCall of Prince-
ton, Florida, make the following state-
ment in the presence of Mr: J: Edgar
Hoover, Director, Federal Bureau of
Investigation; E. J. Connelley, Inspec-
tor; of my own free will without
Promise or threat of any kind. I
make this statement because I wish
to tell the truth of things which have
occurred in the recent past.
For the past—well, ever since we
were married, we’ve done without
things and my wife did without things
which she should have had. I thought
of practically everything to get money.
I guess I was desperate, I don’t know.
I tried to get a job until about two
weeks before the kidnaping took place.
The idea popped into my mind to
kidnap somebody and then I did not
know who. I did not have a car, I
knew it would have to be some one
in Princeton, but I did not know who
had the most money. I did know that
Bailey Cash, Charles Chambers and
Charles E. Eichenberger were, what
I thought, in a position to arrange that
much money,
(Charles, Jr.)
that was out.
(Charles, Jr.)
Cash’s son.
but
Eichenberger’s boy
was away at school so
Charlie Chambers’ boy
is always with his
mother, so all that was left was Bailey
About a week after I made up my
\mind, I wrote the first ransom note in
my house. I told no one of my plans.
I wrote the first note on a scratch pad
and later copied it on a piece of
Paper that I cut from a brown Paper
bag. I left the note in the pocket of
a gray coat hanging in my home. On
the night of May 28th, I went to
James Bailey Cash’s store and asked
what time it was,
was 9:30. I turned and walked be-
hind the store and up to the rear
door. The screen of this door was
locked and I cut it with my knife.
I had two large handkerchiefs in
my left hand.
with my right
handkerchiefs
nose covered.
I
Mrs. Cash said it
picked up Skeegie
arm and placed the
over his mouth, eyes
and nose. I didn’t knéow I had his
I
went out the back
door and through the underbrush to
my home. I thought he was asleep.
He never made any movement at all.
Going through the woods it took me
fifteen or twent
I went in the
I got the n
y minutes to get home,
back door. The house
was dark and I knew Skeegie could
not recognize me in the dark and I
tried to wake him up. I shook him
and called his name, but he di-+’t
answer. I knew then that he was un-
conscious and I heard that People wuiio
had been strangled could be restored
by artificial respiration. I tried this,
I tried a damp cloth, but I knew he
was dead because I couldn’t wake him
up. ... I didn’t know what to do. I
picked him up and went out the back
door running some, and walking fast
when I couldn’t Tun, back toward the
thick clump of bushes where he was
later found. I forced my way through
the hushes to that old crooked pine
and placed him there, then ran back
home, which is about half a mile.
ote
Emanuel’s house.
voice and told him
on his front steps,
and went to John
I talked in a low
I had placed a note
for him to deliver
it and get five dollars, then went
home. I knew Emanuel did not have
any way to ride and I waited to hear
him walking toward Princeton. He
would have had to pass my house to
get there. When he did not go by,
I tore a strip of Paper from some meat
in the ice box and wrote the second
note, which I left at the home of
Asbury Cash
(on
ly a few hundred
feet from McCall’s home). I put the
— —N «4
note
ban
an
Pris
goir
The
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and
the;
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help
spen
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turning
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Har:
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to Mr,
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to gow
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in the t
and the
the ora
Chamb:<
grove fi
yards, t!
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walked ea
tossed t}
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got back
to where
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opened 1
grove an
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placed th
I kept t!
and cam:
Charles (
ner of a r:
Over the
corner.
In view of his plea of guilty to the
charge of kidnaping for ransom, there
was no jury and he was not tried on the
two murder charges. At conclusion of the
trial, Judge Atkinson announced that he
would pronounce sentence at ten o’clock
Thursday morning, June 16th.
At 9:58 McCall was led into the court-
room through a side door. Judge Atkinson
was already on the bench. The prisoner
faced the Court. ‘
“Have you, Franklin Pieree McCall, any
reason to offer why sentence should not
be passed at this time?” asked the Judge.
“No, your Honor.”
After warning the spectators against a
demonstration of any kind, Judge Atkin-
son pronounced sentence:
“Saying nothing that does or should
influence this Court in its judgment,
and the Court having heard the evidence,
finds that you are guilty of the crime of
kidnaping for ransom—to wit, James
Bailey Cash, Jr... . and that you shall
be kept there secretly until such time as
the Governor of Florida, by warrant, shall
appoint for your execution ,.. and at such
time and place punishment of death shall
be inflicted upon you by causing to pass
through your body a current of electricity
.,. and may God have mercy on your
soul.”
Just nineteen days after Skeegie Cash
was snatched from his bed, his abductor
was on his way to the electric chair; and
this was the gratifying result of the
100 per cent cooperation of all the law
enforcement agencies concerned, working
together in harmony.
In reviewing the case,, officers com-
mented on the small area in which the
plot was conceived and carried out, The
ransom money was paid three-quarters of
a mile from the home of the child. The
kidnaper’s home was one-quarter mile
from the place where the money was paid
and recovered. His home was less than half
a mile from the J. B. Cash store and half
a mile from the place where J. Edgar
Hoover and his G-men found the body
of the boy. All three of the ransom notes
were found within the same small area.
Selection of the corner upon which a
True Detective Mysteries
church at Princeton is located as the
start of the pay-off route, was perhaps the
most ironical phase of the whole case.
Until the time of his death, last January.
McCall’s father was pastor of that church,
a man beloved and respected by the entire
community.
Mrs. McCall did not appear at her hus-
band’s trial and was quoted as-saying that
she never wanted to see him again. This
statement, however, was contradicted by
the scene enacted when she visited him at
FBI Headquarters shortly before he signed
his final confession, Upon that occasion
she ate with him, kissed him and told him
she would continue to love him always,
McCall was sentenced at ten o'clock
Thursday morning, June 16th. Secretly re-
moved from the jail, Thursday evening,
by Sheriff Coleman and six deputies, he
was taken to Raiford, 400 miles away, by
automobile and lodged in the death house.
As he sat behind the bars Franklin
Pierce McCall offered an excellent object
lesson to other young men who would
turn to crime for “easy money.” Of the
$10,000 handed over by Cash, McCall
spent not one penny. He bought no
luxuries with the $9,750 he tossed into a
fence corner, He had no good times on
the money he dropped into the oil drum.
The lone five dollar note, which is still
missing, is probably lying in the depths of
the Everglades. J. Edgar Hoover is con-
vinced that McCall dfopped it when he
broke the band around the money in the
darkness ‘ut the orange grove, and that. it
was picked up by the wind and carried
far afield. It is doubtful whether it will
ever be found.
Sheriff Coleman declined to accept the
rewards offered for the arrest of the kid-
naper, and drew warm praise from
Hoover for his splendid cooperation in
helping break the case.
In Princeton the natives shake their
heads in silence as they remember that
only a few short weeks ago McCall was
seen playing with Skeegiec in front of the
father’s store, What would the condemned
man give to hear a little golden-haired
boy whisper just once again, “Preacher
Boy?”
Hijacked Gold!
(Continued from page 70)
sentences for their nefarious activities.
Blackett got himself a new confederate
and pleaded with McDonald to come
across with some money. Kennedy and
Finney bid against’ Blackett, urging Mc-
Donald to play with them instead. They
even went so far as to itemize just how
much gold there was up in the Badlands,
waiting for him to finance the transporta-
tion job.
The cache had now risen in value to to-
tal more than a million dollars, as follows:
$505,000 in bullion; $146,560 in assayed
amalgam; $500,000 in unassayed amalgam
—2,000 pounds of it.
Agent X instructed McDonald to turn
his attention to Kennedy and Finney, in-
stead of the impotent Blackett. Accor‘d-
ingly, the Scot. consented to spend a weck
in Nogales, Arizona, on the Mexican bor-
der, where it was arranged for him to pay
Kennedy for the gold and ship it across
the border.
McDonald might not have been so will-
ing a decoy if it were not for the fact that
he knew Seeret Service men were also in
Nogales, watching over him and the yeggs.
McDonald stayed there a week and. re-
mained .stubborn—refusing to produce
money until he saw gold. So another plot
fell through.
Thus things were pretty much at a
standstill—until October, 1935. The Secret
Service had been watching every move of
the hijack gang for nearly a year and,
just like Blackett, had failed fo get an
inkling as to where the gold might be.
UT there were other accomplishments.
They had put the finger on Cochrane
and Makers for the G-men. They had run
across evidence implicating Ray Blackett
in an Omaha bond forgery. And, by
checking notes with postal inspectors, they
discovered why Finney and Kennedy were
so friendly. Finney was really Art James.
He and Ixennedy were wanted by the pos-
tal sleuths for fencing bonds stolen from
the mails.
But the three men were allowed to run
loose. And lucky it was that the govern-
ment men held their fire.
For now came a new period of tension
for the Secret Service. That stolen gold
up in the Badlands at last began appear-
ing! Not much, but enough to prove there‘
was really stolen gold in “them thar hills”
up around Deadwood.
The same slinky individual called Deafie,
who had been one of the first to hear
about the stolen gold, now deserted Black-
ett and tried a new master. In Blackett,
117
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THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jacksonville)
Friday, 24 February 1939.
s Hts Yu Aakeaere y me tii 4 SM fl ID pe t- AML fot, ‘ke
“ety YY On Ng (PUP ig Oe
s Le a Uf ere ¢, Ye 6 wy,
cCall’s Doom Is Apparent!
Sealed When Two Justices
Of Highest Court Deny Plea
| $10,000 ransom kidnap-
ing ‘Yhe¢ Gummer, Gov. Pred P
Cone declined to say whether he
would intervene ’
“Mo Sores gat tte exec
tive’s reply a& ques relayed
by a State
qf
;
!
\
at ui A 4
= 8
os
804 Fla.
grant the petition would be no less than a
trifling with justice. .
[4] Aside from this, the petition comes
too late under the facts in this case. See
Lamb v. State, 91 Fla. 396, 107 So. 535.
The petition is denied.
So ordered.
TERRELL, C. J., and WHITFIELD.
BROWN. BUFORD, CHAPMAN, and
THOMAS, JJ., concur.
° KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
DESOTO COUNTY et al. v. STATE ex rel.
OTTINGER.
Supreme Court of Florida, Division B.
| Feb. 24, 1939. |
Mandamus €>1{17
A final judgment, granting peremptory
writ of mandamus directing county tax as-
~exsor tO assess all homesteads in county at
full value, in proceeding by owner of coun-
ty bond interest coupons, did not contravene
statutory and constitutional tax exemption
provisions. Comp.Gen.Laws 1927, § 897,
~ubd. 7; Const. art. 9, §9; art. 10,
Ce
Error to Circuit Court. DeSoto Coun-
ty; George W. Whitehurst, Judge.
Proceeding by the State, on the relation
of A. B. Ottinger, against DeSoto Coun-
ty and others for a writ of mandamus
directing the tax assessor of such county
to assess all homesteads therein without
deducting or exempting any part of the
value thereof. To review a final judgment
granting a peremptory writ, respondents
bring error.
Affirmed.
W. D. Bell, of Arcadia, for plaintiffs in
error.
NO appearance contra.
CHAPMAN, Justice.
This case is here on writ of error to a
final judgment in mandamus made and en-
tered by the Circuit Court of DeSoto
County, Florida, on the 14th day of Au-
186 SOUTHERN REPORTER
gust, 1937. The record shows that the re-
lator below became the owner of twen y-
Six interest coupons in the aggregate
ameunt of $4920, becoming due at different
dates from May 15, 1934 to May 15, 1937,
These interest coupons were oblige tions of
DeSoto County, Florida, and were sold
and delivered on or about May 15, 1923,
The peremptory writ directed the Tax As-
sessor of DeSoto County, Florida, to assess
for the purpose of taxation al! homesteads
as defined by Article 10 of the Constitu-
tion ot Florida located in DeSoto County,
and to do so without deducting or exempt-
ing any part of the value of such home-
steads therefrom with all other taxable
property of the County. It is contemplated
that the interest coupons of the relator can
or may be paid out of and from the special
assessment.
The record shows that after the alterna-
tive writ had been amended a number of
times by different Court orders, a demur-
rer by the respondents was directed to the
“Same prior and, subsequent to all:author-
ized amendments and upon argument of
counsel the demurrer was by an order of
court denied. Additional time was permit-
ted and allowed by the lower court to the
respondents in which to file an answer or
return to the alternative writ as amended,
but the same was not done, and writ of
error was taken to this Court from a final
judgment in behalf of the relator below
on the pleadings as made in the lower
court.
It is contended on writ of error to this
Court that the final judgment is in contra-
vention of (a) paragraph 7 of Section
897, C.G.L., and (b) Section 9 of - rticle
9 of the Constitution of Florida. The
authorities appear to hold cont rary to this
view and there is no merit in this connec-
tion. See Hackney vy. MeKenny, 113 Fla.
1/6, 151 So. 524; City of Tarpon Springs
Chrysostomides, 10S Fla. 200, 146 So.
The judgment appealed from is hereby
afnrmed.
WHITFIELD, P. J., and BROWN, Jo
concur.
BUFORD, J., concurs in the opinion and
judgment.
TERRELL and THOMAS, JJ., not par-
ticipating as authorized by Section 4687,
Compiled General Laws of 1927, and Rule
21-\ of the Rules of this Court.
—/
yee
from the Governor.
L. PF. Chapman, superintendent
ef the @tate Prison Parm here, said
McCall was “holding up okeh” in
his death house cell.
The confessed abductor’s mother.
Mrs. Minnie MoCall, was his only
visitor during the day except for
the physicians who examined him.
McCall's head was shaved in
preperation for the electrocution
last Sunday, when he broke down
thought would be his last farewell.
Chapman said he was calmer to-
day, apparently having regained his
often-expreased confidence he would
not be put to death for the crime.
C. A. Avriett of Jasper, attorney
friend of the McCall family who
has waged ttre long battle in behalf
of the youth, met successive rebuffs
at Washington when he sought stay
orders first from Justice Hugo L.
Black and then Justice Felix
H. :
Por three Rare he attempted to
convince Black that McCall was
not represented adequately by coun-
sel when he pleaded guilty at Mi-
ami and was sentenced to die by
Circuit Judge H. FP. Atkinson. —
When Black refused to grant the
:
d
i
4!
it
i
q
af
:
=i
'
:
if
qth
ie
1h
ribs
it
terfere with the electrocution late
yesterday, telling Attorney Bugene
C. Rutidege. of Jacksonville suffi-
elent reasén ‘for such action had
not been advanced.
“After the matter over,”
believe more than ever that you
have no case.”
Defense attorneys repeatedly
have sought clemency or 8 new
trial om- the fact that MeGal was
net tried by a jury before being
sentenced. They said he was not
given esunsel in time fer him te
realise. tha seriousness ef his guilty
Pyierids low: provides ine death
penalty for ransom kidnaping un-
eee ee
‘sonville and Attorney Joe Hill Wil-
cute on eS
leas @ jury recommends mercy, in
which case the automatic sentence
is life imprisonment. Avriett con-
tends McCall should have been giv-
en a jury trial on the chance the
the ie nears have recommended
e sentence,
Examisiatien Requested.
Today’s physical examination
was conducted at the request of
McCall's atterneys, : ad
Dr. James H. Randolph of Jack-
liams of Starke represented the
defense. State Board of Health
am :
Norwood and Ellis said Dr. W. A.
\ aula, and
r 1 Herbert
for defendants
, an alternative
ied by the Cir-
ounty, Florida,
it the Board of
-eof, command-
a tax sufficient
nd pay certain
‘ty, Florida, ac-
ilternative writ
- John G. Getz,
ners of Hardee
record, adopted
sceipts and ex-
but failed to
ed debt service
mus suits. The
represented by
r was filed . by
t Hardee Coun-
“He lower’ court.
ounty Commis-
-ect its minutes
in the absence
2 had no
2 n of the
1G writ of
=rom this final
-S sued out, the
ts filed in this
‘al argument.
ary, 1939, coun- °
-ror filed a mo-
error. It was
‘aintitt in error
ot the coupons
and that each
have been re-
case of New
any v. Hardee
cted States Dis-
2rn_ District of
ampa Division,
ow involved in
sovered by the
out supra, and
:durt and plain-
at the present
County obliga-
d that the suit
for this reason
d.:
opear by an af-
130 that a copy
~
McCALL v.
186 So.
of the motion to dismiss the writ of error
in the case at bar had been scnt to the
Honorable W. D. Bell, attorney at law,
Arcadia, Florida, and that counsel has full
knowledge of the pending motion to dis-
miss and notice was served upon him and
no objections having been received in op-
position to the motion to dismiss, we there-
fore hold that the motion is well founded
and should be granted. It 1s so ordered.
See Mays v. White, 85 Fla. 150, 05 So:
299,
WHITFIELD, P. J., and BROWN, J.,
concur.
THOMAS, J., concurs in the opinion and
judgment.
TERRELL and BUFORD, JJ., not par-
ticipating as authorized by Section 4687,
Compiled General Laws of 1927 and Rule
21-A of the Rules of this Court.
KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
wm
°
McCALL v. STATE.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Feb. 18, 1939.
1. Criminal law C997
Eyen in court of original jurisdiction
‘crit of error coram nobis” is not a writ
of right but is one granted only on showing
of cause, and then it is in court’s discretion
whether, on affidavits presented, to allow
writ or not.
[Ed. Note—Wor other definitions of
“Writ of Error Coram Nobis,” see Words
& Phrases.]
2. Criminal law C=997
In exercise of its discretion as to wheth-
er writ of error coram nobis should be
gyanted, court should look to reasonableness
of allegations of petition and to existence
of probability of truth thereof.
3. Criminal law €=—997
Where petition for leave to apply to
trial court for writ of error coram nobis
was supported only by petitioner’s verified
petition with no supporting affidavits, and
record of petitioner’s testimony in court be-
STATE Fla. 803
803
low and of corroborating physical circum-
stances showed that his denial of guilt in
petition was false, petition was denied.
4. Criminal law ¢=997
A petition for writ of error coraim No-
bis comes too late after affirmance of cou-
viction by the Supreme Court.
—_—_»—__———-
Error to Circuit Court, Dade County;
H. F. Atkinson, Judge.
Petition by Franklin Pierce McCall for
leave to apply to trial court for writ of
error coram nobis.
Petition denied.
Cc. A. Avriett and E. C. Rutledge, both
of Jasper, for plaintiff in error.
George Couper Gibbs, Atty. Gen., Law-
rence A. Truett and Tyrus A. Norwood.
Asst. Attys. Gen., and G. A. Worley, State
Atty., of Miami, for the State.
PER CURIAM.
This cause is before us on petition for
leave to apply ta the Court below for writ
of error coram nobis.
[1] Even in the court of original juris-
diction the process is not a writ of right
but is one granted only on a showing of
cause, and then it is‘in the court’s dis-
cretion whether, on the affidavits presented,
to allow the writ or not. See 34 C.J. 399,
Sec. 622. Washington v. State, 92 Fla. 740,
110 So. 239.
[2,3] Here the petitioner presents no
supporting afiidavits, but only his own veri-
fied petition. Such pertinent allegations as
are contained in the petition are positively
and directly contradicted by the testimony
given by the defencant in the court below
and by other witnesses.
In the petition now before us the con-
victed petitioner for the first time in the
record denies his guilt of the offense
charged. The record of his own testimony
and of corroborating physical circumstances
show beyond any question of reasonable
doubt that he did commit the crime of
which he stands convicted and that his
present belated denial of guilt is false and
untrue.
In the exercise of its discretion in matters
of this sort the court should look to the
reasonableness of the allegations of the
petition and to the existence of the prob-
ability of the truth thereof. This duty we
have met and we are convinced that to
NEGRO BRUTE HANGED
FOR ARINOUS CRIME
May i. |
At exactly 0 O'clock this morning Justice:
this city to Will Mo. |
Fedden, a ginger-cake colored negro, tor |
crime of that race. !
- At three minutes to 10 o'clock McFadden |
bee the jail, with
wa uM Ww '
he Ke Aed Pca hese aller on
condel the steps to the
bout twenty feet
After ther “oe jonies the black!
Monies e cK!
Cap was adjusted, ‘the acd!
McFadden ~ down
Cg ecaoid,
that no ka
broken,
ver
edout Re
Soothe hanes, oe hoes aoe
tC an
wee any one he kne
recognition @ then.
him until the
ed straight fre:
ie SR wee adgtaces over his head.
2 pronounced McFadden dead
Was then cut
QR Was exa-
of the most drutal
é
:
small vil Titus-
a: t ue near Titus |
Tea
fee ave Recra biatch roe ig ERT are }
ting her
megre then his socape through
a tte wean it wae
wou vunApun
et whe harbored th 4
8 idea did not;
he negro fiend |
sg
this tj
top aapreet, jase ‘eal Pest tare, "itt
there, he 7 akene Brown ‘Tot |
thet MeFudden
i waa at @ rail.)
mear Jacksonville and he irome- |
Ha 4 for place and cap-
ate mea. ;
le there Raforally has been bitter
/ towards this negro fiend, yet thers
never been any w feper of unlawf}
eeeenment by the pubite. Everything was
bet re taday and another brute bas
| Soe his fate
tety after tt became kniewn the
_Srowa had arrested the man wh.
a2ea 0 Mrs. Walters. thers was a mnve-
me the Pott to rater a fund of $5m 6)
show t udlic’s appreciation if the eher.
‘ & great work. owever. wer Mr
; Brown heard of this Move he declinad 14
opt the gift. eaytng it was ony hes
and he could not take the money
a, os
°C abeg '606T Kew ZZ ‘Kepanyes
(@TTtAuosyoer) NOINN-SAEWIL WdINOld S3HL
s LJ “~ s : 9 1917
McKINNEY, Clarence D., black, hanged Miami, Florida Dec $
iC : ?
a
ef ’
Bh
‘ “4
"3°! PERALD,
° ae Miami, FL
*. , , ve Dec. 13, 1916
| 4, Page 1
Murdrer Pursued By Passe Is “4 last column
Captured “After Being
Bal j Wounded gs
Lak rb under the impression te Bi
he, ha Wfluenced his wife og gainstgr, :
| him t rou some advice that. had a .
(been afferéd in a settlement of -'thed a
couplets ja a Clarence, C. MeKin-: fee
ney, aAineero. carpenter, murdered the “i,
Rev, -Jhrtiek Be on, a- retired: Congres 473)
gations] i minis Yr, St. PRON Grove 8)
yettarduy afternoon. a aa -
The Imunlerer frankly nduiieed the: ae
dreadfiili drimd, declaring ‘that. ‘the a
clergyman| had influenced his swife.:
against bith. The admission was made. 3! a
vin: thd ay jail where the negro ae
/murdef ae taken after he had beet: sects
shotcs sa)
ay Limes by & posse. of 5s 3 ee
zens,
“Tha led negro was bent upon foie Ri se
der 3 y re udged by his. threats * “tise
againdt - wife, Who had! pees NER
diverep etlings against : him’ for: # eed |
alleged Jer =P treatment of her. ‘After*#
. making lopen threats against the world t
| man’s} life; the negro armed ce laa gee a
J with gn automatic revolver and. -went.-*
ta-his e where -he'w bye
Con ny. J. Page, who was senna ea
ing dr! Ai with a swarrent ‘fonshis! So
arrest] | AES +8, itor
, Per dps it war R mere: ‘coineidénee®: be Sm
that. ebulted Jn ithe brutal :and COlga sparse
blooddd rder.of Mr. Bolton,. ar A Bare :
chance ze if meet the negro: ait “e there an
latter} ivak runaaeost wre ey s home
after {bei _ the consta bless
mnn! nally shot. down wh ae
and ae n that lib To e olf: gentlaca
Wal ims NOMA tH .) ao a
MoGRAN, Harvey, . white ’ 205
‘electrocuted Florida. State
Prison (Santa Rosa ‘County)
‘Bep ember. ee es S
ee es ET ae Harrell. of Chipley sald 7
Bee aaah Ne eae ia rE ay ce) Fe eet Pepwacols yout
-Harrel? said th vot
drew & gun on him when 4
the #uspect from an tastbou
Ping A reper a few h
ere found about 200 mis it the :
Siac bs
Tu Villieme
jee
api Pais ai
Hi , i Sete |
ail flat i i
An ih vf
sD)
-
es
|
>
S
fe)
9)
w
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w)
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ea
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eI
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a)
o%
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=)
fry
fr]
an)
=a
Tuesday, 5 September 1939, page 3.
Orders had been given to disturb
nothing if a body was found, and so
the sack was not opened until the
arrival of James Cash and the au-
thorities in charge.
Then, more bitter perhaps than if
it iad been his only son—the sack was
opened—it contained the carcass of a
dog.
Cash turned his grief-stricken face
wearily away from the quarry. Some-
one asked him if he believed the case
would be solved.
“Yes,” he said slowly. “I think so,
as far as catching the fellows who did
it is concerned. Once we catch them
we will be able to find out what they
did with the boy.”
ASH went back to his home to take
up his long vigil again.
Friday afternoon the G-Men made
a hurried trip to Tavernier, deeper in
the Keys. A bloodstained fragment of
cloth had been found near a rockpit.
Divers and boatmen immediately be-
gan searching the pit. Nothing was
discovered.
Reinforcements of Federal agents
arrived in Miami. The weather cleared
and the search went on. No clew too
small was being overlooked. But still
Skeegie Cash was missing.
Persons who were being held for
questioning, or as witnesses, included
John and Willard Campbell, real estate
men who lived near Princeton; M. F.
Braxton, the carpenter; Pedro Brax-
ton, Braxton’s son, and James Hern-
don of Florida City.
Saturday, June 4, marked the pass-
ing of a full week since Skeegie dis-
appeared from his bed. Clews began
to grow fewer and rumors were more
numerous.
Gradually, over the week-end, the
widespread band of posses was with-
drawn and the search was more and
more confined to trained men. The
volunteers had done all they could.
By Monday, June 6, the large hunt
was practically abandoned. G-Men
concentrated on two things—question-
ing residents of Princeton and hoping
that one of the ransom bills would
turn up.
A series of persons walked into the
FBI office at Miami, accompanied by
G-Men. Some of them didn’t walk
out again for days. Braxton, who had
been held for five days and was re-
fused even to see his wife, was given
his complete freedom on Monday. He
was warned not to talk. He didn’t.
On Tuesday, June 7, the break came.
A ransom note turned up in Jackson-
ville, Florida. It was a five-dollar bill
and was spotted by a filling-station
attendant who had saved one of the
published lists. He communicated with
authorities and said it was two men
who had given him the bill. He said
they indicated they were headed for
Tallahassee. Squad cars roared out on
the highway and the men_ were
stopped. They proved to be two police-
men from Tennessee who were re-
turning from southern Florida, where
they had spent their vacation. They
had no idea where they had picked up
the five-dollar bill but were sure it
was in southern Florida—down toward
the Keys.
That was the clincher. All the clews
were in. Everyone who had followed
the case could have a knowledge of
these clews. It only remained to as-
semble them and make the proper
deductions.
Sheriff Coleman, his deputies and
the G-Men held conferences. Maps of
the locality were spread on the table
and studied. Sheriff Coleman, long
ago, had told about his suspicions, par-
ticularly concerning one person. Only
one thing held up the man’s arrest.
The authorities had to be sure he had
no confederates. t
Much could be read from the facts
as assembled.
It was deduced, for example, that
the boy in all probability had been
kidnaped by someone who had an
intimate knowledge of the family’s
habits. How otherwise could any other
person know when the boy would be
alone in the house? The detectives
reasoned that this person must be one
who could make a last-minute check
56
without arousing any suspicion, and
hence was well known by Mr. and
Mrs. Cash. There were several per-
sons who might have this knowledge,
but only one person stood out as a
suspect who had made reasonably cer-
tain that the coast was clear. That
person had been in the store the night
of the kidnaping.
But, asked the G-Men, was this sus-
pect only the finger-man for a gang
or did he act alone? That was what
was holding up the final solution.
They wanted to be sure.
From a diagram of the route given
in the kidnap note, it was deduced,
logically enough, that the snatcher or
snatchers had been intimately ac-
quainted with the roads and topog-
raphy of the Redland district—a man
who knew local landmarks. That, cou-
pled with the first deduction, meant
That man—Franklin Pierce McCall
—had been questioned by Sheriff Cole-
man but released on advice from the
G-Men. It had been decided that if
he were free he would lead the
manhunters to his accomplices, if he
had any.
Watched throughout the period as
he joined in the search for the child
he could have kidnaped, McCall con-
tacted no one who might be his ac-
complice. The ransom money was not
being spent. If he had had accom-
plices, the detectives argued, the
money would turn up far away from
the scene of the actual kidnaping. But
what had happened? The only five-
dollar bill that had shown in trade
originated in southern Florida—lead-
ing directly back to the scene of the
kidnaping again.
It was after this conference that or-
Timely
FFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES magazine is ever eager to
present the full inside, detailed story of a successful inves-
tigation—and as soon as it can be told. Frequently we do not
wait for the trial of persons accused of crimes. In fairness to
readers who have followed our stories and who wish the final
dispositions of cases, this department, Timely Events, will be
introduced on this page from time to time.
In the issue of May 11, 1938, we carried in pictures ‘The
Romeo and Juliet Slaying,” recounting the tragic love story of
Donald Carroll and Charlotte Matthiesen of New York, which
ended in a half-incomplete suicide pact March 23, 1938. After a
long trial sixteen-year-old Donald was found not guilty of mur-
dering his sweetheart by reason of insanity. That was on May
27 and on June 4 psychiatrists found him sane and released him.
Events
that the suspect must be a Princeton
resident.
Another thing was deduced from the
diagram or map of the routing given
James Cash on his ransom delivery
trip. That thing was the fact that no
spot was not within walking distance
of another spot. If the detectives cared
to stretch the deduction, which some
argued, they could assume _ that
the man who laid out the route did
not have an _ automobile—that he
wanted to be within easy walking dis-
tance of any spot he chose for pay-
ment and still near enough home to
provide himself with an alibi. This
theory could be double-checked by
the places where other clews had
turned up.
For example, the first ransom note
had been found within a short walk
of the Cash home, the second, again,
only a short distance away. The third
note, which had been the biggest give-
away, was found practically in the
same locality as the first. All notes
were within easy walking distance of
a certain Princeton man’s home, as
was the torn shoe-box in which the
ransom was delivered.
As Sheriff Coleman had pointed out
to the G-Men, the delivery of the third
ransom note was the biggest slip by
a man who already had slipped once
before. That man had meant for an
innocent Negro to act as a runner for
what, to him, would have been the
first note, but because the Negro re-
fused to be duped into the task, the
note-writer had been forced to leave
the first message on the door of W. P.
Cash’s home. In his hurry to draw
attention to the third note he had
made a slip of the tongue. He had
said the note had been slipped under
the door of the filling statian. This,
as Sheriff Coleman knew, would have
been impossible. A note wadded up
the way the third note was could not
have been slipped under the small
crack. In fact, the note had been car-
ried into the station by the man who
wrote it, and he had only pretended
to pick it up.
ders went out for McCall’s arrest. The
G-Men were determined that this time
he would tell the full truth of his
actions. The man was brought in.
Secrecy, up to this point, had
shrouded the efforts of the Federal
men. Now, on Wednesday night, June
8, unusual activity was noticed at the
Miami Headquarters of the FBI.
As casually as they could, G-Men
began drifting away from the build-
ings, singly, in pairs and in groups.
They scattered in various directions.
Each carried a bundle of some sort.
BY DEVIOUS courses, they reassem-
bled at a downtown garage in
Miami—and sped away at 50 miles
an hour. Something was up, certainly.
Meanwhile, at Princeton, an air of
suppressed excitement was noted at
the Cash home, and several of Cash’s
relatives began to busy themselves in
various mysterious movements, one
speeding north toward Miami under
escort of a motorcycle and with siren
screaming.
Newspapermen and others interested
in the case waited tensely at both
Miami and Princeton. But no an-
nouncement was forthcoming until the
squad of G-Men returned to Miami
after midnight.
It was 1:40 a.m., Thursday, June 9,
when the press conference was as-
sembled at the direction of J. Edgar
Hoover. He had a statement, brief
enough in all, but its first thirteen
fateful words told the tragic story:
“We have,” he said, “been. able to
recover the body of the little Cash
boy.”
Skeegie Cash was dead. His bright
blue eyes never again would sparkle
as he raced about on a velocipede or
fished in the numerous waters near
Princeton.
G-Man Hoover was. still speak-
ing:
“We have in custody Franklin Pierce
McCall. McCall has made a full and
complete statement admitting the writ-
ing of the ransom notes and obtaining
of the money. We recovered the ran-
som money in a corner of an orchard
owned by Charles Chambers on the
south side of Sunset Drive between the
Dixie Highway and Tallahassee Road.”
Hoover told the ‘assembled news-
papermen that the body of the child
had been found west of Princeton in
almost impenetrable underbrush. Mc-
Call led them to the scene at three
minutes after midnight. After the
heavy roots of a mangrove tree had
been hacked away, the Federal men
found the unburied body, badly de-
composed, still clad in the one-piece,
white and rose-striped pajamas he
wore the night he said to his mother:
“Mommie, I’m afraid.”
With McCall’s arrest, mob anger
_ grew once more at Princeton. A cor-
oner’s inquest over the body of baby
Cash was canceled without announced
reason, but presumably because it was
considered dangerous to attempt to
take McCall there for the proceedings.
Even after his arrest and admission
concerning the money, McCall insisted
that he did not kidnap or murder the
boy. If he had accomplices, he was
unable to establish their identities, and
authorities continued to pound away
at him with questions.
|? WAS not until Friday, June 10,
that the full story came out. Then,
breaking completely, McCall ‘talked,
justifying in every way the deductions
made by the detectives who had or-
dered his arrest.
He wrote the notes. He delivered
them. He stole the child. He killed
the child. He hid the body. He col-
lected the ransom. All of these—
alone.
Hoover announced that McCall had
given them a detailed story of his ac-
tions connected with the crime.
A week before the abduction, Mc-
Call prepared the first ransom note.
Previously he had decided on a kid-
naping and considered one or two
other children, but finally settled on
little Skeegie Cash.
On May 28, McCall went to the
Cash store and inquired the time. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Cash were there. The
kidnaper then went to the rear of the
residence, slit the screen and unfast-
ened the hook. Quietly he walked to
the bedroom and, according to his
story, placed two handkerchiefs over
Skeegie’s mouth, eyes and nose.
Carrying the boy under his arm,
McCall walked out into the night.
Skeegie didn’t move. McCall went, un-
seen, to the home where he was liv-
ing, and entered the rear door. Then,
according to his story, he attempted
to awaken the child. Skeegie didn’t
awaken. He couldn’t. He was dead—
accidentally, said McCall.
McCall was frightened by the boy’s
death, he said, and rushed away from
the house to place the body in the
thick underbrush—so thick, in fact,
that G-Men later had to chop their
way in with hatchets to recover it.
There the kidnaper placed Skeegie
Cash and left him to rot in the rain
and blazing sun, while he tried to col-
lect $10,000 ransom from a grieving ~
father and mother.
He walked to the shack of John
Emanuel and called to Emanuel to say
that there was a note under the door-
step which was to be delivered to
Cash. When the Negro refused to com-
ply with the request, McCall was
forced to write another note, directing
attention to his first. .
On Tuesday, June 14, the confessed
kidnaper was indicted on charges of
kidnaping and murder. Arraigned
immediately afterward, McCall plead-
ed guilty to kidnaping, not guilty to
murder. Both carry the death penalty.
Circuit Judge H. F. Atkinson heard
the case without a jury; on June 16
sentenced McCall to the electric chair.
The governor was expected to fix the
date of the execution for the week
of June 27.
The reward money—amounting to
$5,000—probably will go back to the
donors. The G-Men can’t accept it,
and Sheriff Coleman modestly has re-
fused it.
Another picture with this story may
be found on Page 38.
OD6
£8
<i
BY BOB CROSSLAND _
Handsome little James B. Cash, Jr. (right), victim
in one of the nation’s most recent kidnap atrocities, .
was snatched fron+ his parents’ home (circle below)
in Princeton, Florida, and carried into the night,
(Left) Hundreds of eager volunteers join in the
determined search for the mysteriously missing boy
=
-
weary as the final customer straggled out, but not too tired
to help his wife, Vera, court the day’s receipts and make the
routine entries in the ledger. For fifteen’ minutes the parents
went about their work.
“I guess that’s about all, Honey,” said Jim. “I’m about
ready to call it a day and get to bed.”
“All right,” replied Vera. “While you are locking up I'll
run back to Skeegie. It took him a long time to get to sleep
tonight—he seemed a little upset.” |
ae you go and make sure that he is all right,” said the
father.
Outside the rain had dwindled to a mere trickle. At the
house she tiptoed to the side of the.boy’s bed. The faint light
entering the room failed to reveal his blond head above the
covers. Anxiously she explored the blankets, felt cold perspira-
tion break out on her forehead when she found the. bed
empty. Turning on the lights she made a rapid search of
the other rooms of the house, thinking the little fellow had
awakened and climbed out of bed. When she failed to find
him, she dashed out into the yard, ran to the store.
“Jim,” she cried, “Skeegie isn’t in his bed!” ‘
“What!” exclaimed Cash who had just locked the front
door of the store. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know,” sobbed the mother. “He was asleep when
I came to the store a while ago.”
“There, there,” soothed Jim, detecting hysteria in his
wife’s voice, “we'll find him.” ~
A moment later both parents entered the bedroom for a
‘ 15
|
So there you have both sides to the
problem that -faced F. Donald Coster
in his study ‘that morning — and _ all
brought on because he suddenly re-
alized that he had failed to take his
wife’s strong, upright character into
his calculations for escape. It looked
now as if he would have to take the
hard way out—bluffing his way
through somehow.
But his time with Thompson was
drawing to a close. He had asked for
a couple of weeks or so to explain
everything to Thompson and the treas-
urer had been very nice about it. He
was waiting for just one thing, was
Thompson, a reasonable explanation
about that $18,000,000 that was short
in Coster’s pet, the crude drug de-
partment. Coster had figured out when
he had given the stall to Thompson
that he could find a way of further
doctoring the books to circumvent the
truth coming out, the truth that the
huge inventories and accounts re-
ceivable down for the crude drug de-
partment were nothing more than
myths. He had breathed somewhat
easier for this reprieve—for that’s ex-
actly what it had been. He figured
that his cunning would come to his
rescue—that he could think of some-
thing.
Buz for once Coster’s cunning had
deserted him. He was no more
prepared to face Thompson, even with
a phony explanation, than he had been
when the watchdog of the treasury
had called more than a week previous-
ly. For Coster had wracked that clever
brain of his for some plausible tale,
but none had come. Then he had gone
to the psychiatrist, hoping to find a
miracle there. And the psychiatri
pedient of not going near Thompson’s
office, and as a matter of fact, spend-
ing very little time in his own office.
The old illness excuse. His tonsilitis
had long since left him, but he was
still wearing a silk muffler around his
“sore” throat.
So Coster thought he would face
Thompson, just to get the feel of the
wind. With no sleep whatever, and
with his eyes bloodshot from all the
drinking, Coster went into New York
the next morning. He called in a sec-
retary and began dictating to beat the
band, interrupting his dictation long
enough to ask the secretary to send for
Thompson.
The treasurer entered the office of
“Our President” while F. Donald was
going full blast to the girl—for Thomp-
son’s benefit.
“Hello there, Julian,” he snapped.
“Take a seat for a minute, will you,
while I finish up here.” Then to the
girl: “Remind me tomorrow to take
up the Japanese camphor situation.
The Japs are due in town next week.
While I’ve been home ill, I’ve been
going over that situation and I want
to drive a better price bargain with
them when they get in next week.
Also remind me about the wintergreen
proposition in Sumatra. Just put. a
note on my desk saying ‘Wintergreen
—Sumatra,’ and I’ll know what it
means.”
And so it went for fully ten min-
utes, while Thompson just sat there
and cooled his heels, Coster occasion-
ally stopping to flash a quick, busy
smile on the treasurer. To have lis-
tened to F. Donald dictating reminders
to himself that morning, you would
have thought he was about to stride
the drug world like a Colossus. Cer-
tainly he didn’t give the impression of
a man a pace ahead of the law.
Coster dismissed the secretary and
turned to his visitor. “Well, Julian,
how are you?” he wanted to know.
And he did an unheard-of thing. He
arose from his desk and pumped the
treasurer’s hand. “I’ve been terribly
ill—but I’m working on that proposi-
tion we discussed week ago Sunday.
I’m almost ready for you.”
Thompson seemed very cool. “I’m
waiting, Donald,” he said, “but not
for very long. Some very disturbing
“Nothing at the moment, Julian.
Nothing at the moment.” ’
“Well, I have work to do. T’ll be
waiting for you, Donald.”
Coster sat there somewhat stunned.
Then he buzzed for his brother, George
Dietrich, who was Thompson’s as-
sistant.
“What,” he demanded to know
of his brother, “is Thompson up
to?”
Timely
previously.
Hell Ripped Loose.”
IVE men died in the electric chair recently in the widely sepa-
rated States of Colorado, Ohio, Florida and New York to write the
final chapters to four stories previously published. in this magazine.
In Colorado Joe Arridy, moronic slayer of Dorothy Drain, went
to his death January 7, 1939. Arridy’s crime was committed in
Pueblo, Colorado, and was described in the November, 1936, issue of
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES, under the title, “The Maniac
Murder of Dorothy Drain.” Frank Aguilar, also convicted with
Arridy of the same slaying, had been executed more than a year
Steve Figuli was put to death Wednesday, December 21, in
Columbus, Ohio, for the murder of Detective Robert Cline of Colum-
bus. This case was given in the issue of March 30, 1938, “When All
Events
Char
Killers.”
ork convicts TN an, Pee ete |
-Sberma. Theyy too, killed a policeman, Patrolma
Ison, in New York City. Their story appeared in the November 15,
1937, issue of this magazine, entitled “Trailing New York’s Hot Wax
Franklin Pierce McCall went to his death February 24 for the
killing of James ‘Cash, Junior, as described in the issue of July 20,
1938, “Inside Story of the Kidnap-Murder of James Cash, Junior.”
Good news was handed out to three other convicted persons.
Oscar Bartolini, murderer of Mrs. Grayce Asquith in Boston, had his
death sentence commuted to life imprisonment January 4. This
“a
1937. ,
story appeared in the January T, 1997, ,
of the Floating Burlap”... Mrs. Emma Rupe, who kidnaped Jackie
O’Brien, as told in the February 1, 1938, issue, “Who Kidnaped
Jackie O’Brien?” was given a Christmas present by Governor Teller
Ammons of Colorado. Her 30-year sentence was cut to five years.
Simon Elmore, sentenced to die for the sex slaying of Jean
Kubela, had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment by Gov-
ernor Lehman of New York. This case was in the issue of October 1,
In Olympia, Washington, Doctor K. W. Berry, William McAloon,
James Reddick and Robert Smith were convicted of the kidnaping
of Irving Baker, which was described in the issue of November,
1938, “ ‘Admit You Attacked My Wifel’”
In the July 6, 1938, issue of this magazine. Edward Larkman
described how he escaped electrocution by minutes, for a murder
he did not commit. He later was pardoned by Governor Lehman.
On February. 21 this year Larkman was convicted of receiving
stolen property and was sentenced to 20 to 40 years as a repeater.
The story “Hot Lead for Ringtown’s Hex,” appearing in the
January, 1939, issue, declared that both Al Shinsky and Peter Shoup,
confessed killers of Mrs. Susan Mummey, were confined to the
Farview State Hospital for the Criminal Insane. Shoup now is
in Schuylkill Haven State Hospital.
In order to bring. readers the most complete stories first,
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES often prints a review of a case
before its final disposition. This department appears from time to
time to enable readers to keep up with the outcome of these stories.
things have cropped up—in addition
to what I went over with you.”
“Disturbing?”
“Most. But i don’t care to go into
them now. They can wait—for a day
or two yet. I want to clean them all
up at once—during the showdown.”
The silence that followed can best
be described as embarrassing. Then
Thompson broke it. “Have you any-
thing else to say to me?”
“I haven’t any idea, Philip,” said
the younger Musica, “‘but he’s been
awful busy at something. He doesn’t
leave anything lying around at all. I
can’t find out what he’s doing. Not
only that, he’s made me turn over a
lot of records that I ordinarily
keep.”
“And you gave them to him!” thun-
dered Coster.
“What else was there for me to
do?” asked the Musica known as
George Dietrich.
“And people wonder why I’m drink-
ing my head off,” said Coster. With
that he left the office without further
ado, stopped in a liquor store near
Grand Central Terminal, bought a
bottle of McKesson & Robbins brandy,
and went to work on it while his
chauffeur drove him back to Con-
necticut. When he arrived in Fair-
field he. was drunk again, but still
doing enough thinking to know what
it was all about.
There were disturbing things await-
ing him when he got home. He sub-
scribed to one of those confidential
news services out of Washington—
bulletins mailed right to your home or
office, giving you the lowdown on
things. Attorney General Homer Cum-
mings, Coster learned, slated to re-
sign, was possibly going to be re-
placed by Frank Murphy, former .-
Governor of Michigan. That is to say,
Murphy’s name was getting prominent
mention in inner circles right then.
-That was bad news on general prin-
ciples—for here was another hard-
hitting, righteously honest Attorney
General coming in right after one of
the same stripe. It seemed to be a
season for honest law-enforcement
officials, just when things were get-
ting toughest for Coster.
In fact, everywhere the man looked
things were black indeed. Then, too,
there had been a telephone call to the
butler from a man who wouldn’t give
his name but who had stated that he
Ley the person “with Mr. Phillips last
3 at
0?” Coster demanded.
TheNbutler repeated the message,
and Coster’s head began to swim for
fair. How had this man found out who
he wa: d why had he called? Was
it more ,blackmail? He had met this
ugh a friend of a friend—
to say, through a friend of
ie Torrio, the one-time Chicago
~ shot, who had been in many a
bootleg deal with Coster when F. Don-
ald was ‘holding forth at the Girard
Hair Tonic plant in Mt. Vernon, New
York. Torrio and Coster had become
pretty good pals, in fact, with Johnnie
acting as a sort of go-between on
occasion with Coster and the under-
world’s biggest shots. And this gang-
ster to whom Coster had turned to
find an outlaw seaman had been a
very good friend of Torrio’s, and
therefore trusted by Coster. And when
Torrio’s friend recommended the man
with the crooked nose, Coster had felt
safe at least on that score.
UT now that wasn’t to be the case.
When would this man call again?
Coster had to wait only until night
fell to get the answer to that one. And
the call wasn’t on the phone, either.
The butler came up to the study,
where F. Donald had resumed, or was
continuing, rather, his drinking, and
announced that a very uncouth per-
son with a crooked nose was at the
front door, demanding to see Mr. F.
Donald Coster.
Coster went downstairs to the door.
“What,” he demanded, “brings you
here, and what do you want?”
“Me demands, mister, are simple. I
figure it ought to be wort somethin’
more’n a hunnert bucks to you for
me to keep still to them McKesson
Robbins people that you’re plannin’ to
beat it.”
What will Coster’s next move be?
Can the now jittery president of the
great drug firm stave off the appar-
ently inevitable outcome? How will
he deal with this new problem—this
blackmailing leech who is asking for
more money -to keep Coster’s secret
guarded? To how many other black-
mailers does Coster give tribute? What
escape is there for this sensational
crook? For further revelations in this
amazing case see the June issue of
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES.
June Issue of OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES Will Go on Sale Wednesday, May 3
52
oD—3
—
McCALL, Franklin Pierce, white, elec. Fla, (Dade Co.), 2/24/1939...
: TRUE DETECTIVE MYSTERIES,, October, 1938.
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overter a RS. VERA CASH stood looking down at the blond
The |! head snuggled against the white pillow.
many. , “God bless my baby,” she whispered fervently as
nae she bent over to kiss the sleeping boy’s forehead.
dyspeps Who can say there was not a premonition of danger in the
: mother’s heart at that moment?
Thes: With a last glance at the sleeping boy, she turned to inspect
er aie, the rear screen door, found it securely locked. Then she
mostise extinguished the light, stepped out into the slight drizzle of
all in F rain that was falling. When she. left she locked the side door
down b behind her, walked briskly along the side of the building to
R her husband’s general store and filling station which occupied
the front part of the two-story building.
Many That was at 9:20 o’clock on Saturday night, May 28th,
der the 1938.
pe gs Her husband, James B. Cash, Sr., was in a jovial mood as
a defini he stood behind the counter and talked to customers. They
vous w addressed him familiarly as “Jim” and he used their given
feminin: names in response. The leading ‘citizen of the little town of
piness it Princeton, Florida, in the heart of the Redlands district, his
an pei business was profitable, and he had nearly $10,000 in the
hg aha bank. By the time his only son, named James B. Cash, Jr.,
conditia but usually called Jimmy or Skeegis, was old. enough for
barrier college, there would be more money on hand to start him on
cess. Tl his career. Skeegie, who was only five and a half years old,
and the was an exceptionally bright child and had just completed a
despond term in kindergarten.
Yet, « The hands of the clock crept around to ten. Jim Cash was
work ¢ |. 14
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THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jacksonville)
Tuesday, 21 June 1938, page ll.
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608 = Fila.
Acts of 1937, vest ample authority in the
City of Sarasota to issue the certificates
and we find no objection to including the
refunding and improvement certificates in
the same issue and in the same resolution.
[3] This court has repeatedly held that
such certificates are not bonds requiring
an approving vote of the taxpayers as
contemplated by Section Six, Article Nine
of the Constitution. They are payable
solely from net revenues of the water-
works system and the City is in no wise
bound for them as a taxing entity. Mc-
Goon v. Town of Miami Springs, Fla., 185
So. 345, and cases therein cited, decided
December 16, 1938.
The decree below is therefore affirmed
on authority of the last cited case and
cases therein cited,
Affirmed.
WHITFIELD, BROWN, BUFORD,
and CHAPMAN, JJ., concur, |
° KEY RUMBER SYSTEM
s~ums
McCALL v. STATE. *#
Supreme Court of Florida, Division A. ~
Jan. 3, 1939.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 24, 1939,
{. Criminal law €> 1104(3)
Where accused made no motion for new
trial in lower court, took no exceptions dur-
ing the proceedings in lower court, and no
bill of exceptions was presented or settled,
all of the transcript, except the transcript
of the record proper, could properly be
stricken.
2. Statutes €>225
In construing statute imposing death
penalty for crime of kidnapping, unless mer-
cy is recommended by jury, statutes relating
to recommendation of mercy by jury or
judge are to be considered in pari materia.
Comp.Gen.Laws 1927, §§ 8400, 8401; Acts
1933, c. 16053, §§ 1-3.
3. Jury =29(4)
A kidnapping conviction could be sus-
tained where accused pleaded guilty and
waived jury, under statute providing that
*Rehearing denied 186 So. 510
18 SOUTHERN REPORTER
any one who kidnaps any person for ransom
Shall be guilty of kidnapping and punished
by death unless majority of jury shall rec-
ommend mercy, as against contention that
conviction of kidnapping could be had only
on trial by jury. Acts 1933, c 16063; Comp.
Gen.Laws 1927, 8§ 8400, 8401,
4. Jury €=29(4)
Where a statute authorizes acceptance
of a plea of guilty of a capital offense, an
accused may waive his constitutional right
to trial by jury by plea of guilty and have
the evidence submitted to the trial court to
determine the degree of punishment to be
administered within the statutory limita-
tions. Comp.Gen.Laws 1927, § S401; Const.
Declaration of Rights, §§ 3, 11.
5. Kidnapping €=5
Evidence sustained conviction of kid-
napping. Acts 1933, e 16063.
6. Kidnapping <=6 a _
In kidnapping prosecution tried by court,
‘evidence showed no extenuating circum-
stances which could recommend accused to
the mercy of the trial judge in imposing
death penalty, Acts 1933, c 16063.
Se
Error to Circuit Court, Dade County;
Ii. F. Atkinson, Judge.
Franklin Pierce McCall was convicted of
kidnapping to hold for ranson, and he
brings error,
Affirmed.
C. A. Avriett and E. C. Rutledge, both
of Jasper, for plaintiff in error.
George Couper Gibbs, Atty. Gen., Law-
rence A. Truett, of Tallahassee, Tyrus A.
Norwood, Asst. Atty. Gen., and G. A.
Worley, State Atty., of Miami, for the
State.
BUFORD, Justice.
The writ of error brings for review
judgment of conviction and sentence to
death on a plea of guilty to an indictment
charging the offense of kidnaping to hold
for ransom, under the provisions of Chap-
ter 16063, Acts of 1933.
The plaintiff in error has suggested
eleven (11) questions for our considera-
tion, They may be reduced to two ques-
tions because the first to the sixth ques-
tions, inclusive, and the 10th and 11th
questions present the contention that un-
der the provisions of our statute a plea of
on for ransom
and punished
tury shall rec-
ontention that
d be had only
16063 ; Comp.
zes acceptance
tal offense, an
itutional right
auilty and have
- trial court to
ishment to be
stutory limita-
§ S401; Const.
siction of kid-
| 3-tried by court, ’
yating cifeum-
end accused to
ze in imposing
260
Dade County;
‘as convicted of
-anson, and he
Rutledge, both
error.
xy. Gen., Law-
assee, Tyrus A.
ia, and G. A.
-Jiami, for the
gs for review
ad sentence to
>) an indictment
:ndping to hold
istons of Chap-
has suggested
our considera-
zd to two ques-
the sixth ques-
10°* ad llth
er’ that un-
tay a plea of
McCALL v. STATE Fla. 609
185 So.
guilty in a case of this sort can not be
tendered and accepted but that one ac-
cused of violating the provisions of Chap-
ter 16063, supra, can only be convicted on
trial by a jury.
Questions 7, 8 and 9 challenge the action
of the court in accepting a plea of guilty
from the insolvent accused before the
appointment of counsel to represent him,
although counsel was appointed before trial
and had the opportunity to make any mo-
tions which he might have desired to make
and presented no motions to the court.
[1] The transcript of the record here
does not comply with the rules of this
Court. There was no motion for new trial
in the lower court, no exceptions taken
dixing the proceedings in the lower court
and no bill of exceptions presented or
settled. Therefore, all of the transcript
except the transcript of the record proper
could be properly stricken, but the State,
through the Attorney General, has waived
‘all irregularities, . that fhe case’ might be
presented in its most favorable aspect to
the plaintiff in error.
The case has been submitted on briets
and on oral argument by counsel in behalf
of plaintiff in error and by the Attorney
General and the State Attorney of the Cir-
cuit in which the prosecution was had. It
has been stated by the representatives of
the office of the Attorney General, and
admitted by counsel for plaintiff in error
at the bar of the court, that the accused
was indicted by the Grand Jury of Dade
County, Florida, on the 14th day of June,
1938. for violating the provisions of Chap-
ter 16063, Acts of 1933, and also indicted
for the murder of the child whom he was
alleged to have kidnaped; that on the same
day the accused, McCall, was brought into
court and arraigned on the two indict-
ments; that he entered his plea of guilty
to the indictment charging the offense of
kidnaping to hold for ransom and entered
his plea of not guilty to the indictment
clerging murder in the first degree; that
the case was tentatively set for trial on
the following day and that the trial Judge
then appointed Honorable Jack Kehoe, an
able and highly respected member of the
Bar who has had much experience in court
trials of criminal cases, to represent the
accused; that the family of accused on the
same day employed Honorable C. A. Avri-
ett to represent the accused; that Mr.
Avriett proceeded to Miami and conferred
with Mr. Kehoe before the case was called
185 SO.—39
for trial; that on the 15th of June the
Honorable H. F: Atkinson, Judge, presid-
ing in the Circuit Court, called the case for
trial and asked if counsel were ready for
trial; that Mr. Kehoe announced, “The de-
fendant is ready for trial”, and that Judge
Atkinson then asked if he had any motions
to present and Mr. Kehoe answered in
the negative. Thereupon the trial proceed-
ed, the defendant being present in person
and by his counsel.
The transcript shows that when the
State had finished putting on its testimony
in chief, the following occurred:
“Franklin Pierce McCall, the defendant
herein, was called to the stand on his own
behalf, and having been first duly sworn,
was examined and testified as follows:
“Direct Examination
“QO. (By Mr. Kehoe) Will you state
your name to the Court?
, Franklin Pierce McCall
--“Q, And state your age.
“A. Twenty-one.
“Q. Where were you born?
“4. Tasper, Florida.
“QO. How long have you lived in Dade
County?
“A. Since 1934.
“QO. The indictment that was read to
you in this Court yesterday, charging you
with the offense of kidnapping—to that
indictment you entered your plea of guilty ;
is that correct?
“\. Yes, sir.
“QO. And do you now reafirm that to
be your plea to the indictment?
“A. Yes, sir.”
Thereupon the accused identified the
ransom notes which he was alleged to
have written and conveyed to Mr. Cash,
the father of the kidnaped child. He told
where he lett each of the notes. Then
the pertinent part of his tesumony was
as tollows:
“Q. Now how far is it trom your home
to the Cash home—what is the distance?
“A About a quarter of a mile.
“QO. All right, sir. Go ahead.
“4 [asked what time it was, and I
thought it was Mrs. Cash that said it
was 9:30; it was time I was home in bed.
I turned out of the store and into the
alleyway between the store and the filling
station, and came to the back screen door.
”
‘Olden Days’ Executions
Took Place At Home
LORA S. BRITT// FROM MY NOTEBOOK
In the ‘olden days” before
the electric chair, executions
took place in the counties
where the convictions oc-
curred. In Putnam County, the
convicted man was hung from
a scaffolding built behind the
jail that then was located at the
southeast corner of Reid and
Sixth Streets.
One near hanging and
another that took place are
recorded in old Palatka
newspapers, echoes of a day
when ‘‘justice” was swift and
people expected it to be harsh.
J.B. Brown, a powerful black
man with speech impediment
was to go to the gallows early
in 1902 for the murder of Henry
Wesson, a train engineer found
dead about 5:30 one morning
near the water fountain
several hundred feet from the
round house. It was payday,
Oct. 17, 1901 when Wesson had
arrived in Palatka on Train
No. 10 of the Plant system.
When his body was found,
Wesson’s pay still was in his
pocket but his watch was gone.
Brown, a primary suspect,
was known to have disliked
Wesson for lending a gun to
F.B. LeBaron, the train’s
conductor. LeBaron once had
beaten Brown.
The other suspect was a
Bahamian black, Jim Johnson
the train fireman. Johnson was
implicated because he had
talked to LeBaron shortly
before the murder. Four other
Negroes were arrested on
suspicion of murder.
When Brown was arrested,
he had a .32 caliber pistol in his
ion, the same size used
to kill Wesson. He contended
the gun had been planted on
him by a special agent of the
railroad company, P.M.
Davidson.
All suspects were released
from jail except Brown and
Johnson and a lynch mob
threatened them.
On Nov. 16, the grand jury
charged Brown and Johnson
with first degree murder.
Brown reportedly committed
the crime with Johasoa as his
accomplice. The indictment
was written by State Atty. Syd
L. Carter and signed by Noah
J. Tilghman.
Johnson asked the woman
with whom he lived to remove
a watch that he had hidden
under a window sill on the east
side of a house at Main and
Fifth Streets. The watch was
an important piece of
evidence. Before the woman,
known in newspaper accounts
only as Hester, could retrieve
the watch, a Negro detective
Dave English, found it. The
evidence convicted Brown,
who maintained his innocence
throughout the trial. The
verdict of guilty was returned
on Nov. 21. Brown’s guilt was
based on evidence ac-
cumulated while he was in jail.
But Judge W.S. Bulloch,
Fifth Judicial District, didn’t
feel that Brown had received a
fair trial. The district judge
questioned the qualifications of
the attorney defending him. He
also felt that Brown’s speech
impediment helped convict
him
After the trial, Mary McLeod
Bethune, a Palatka teacher,
tried to raise money to appeal
the case. The case went to the
State Supreme Court, which on
March 11, 1902 upheld the
decision.
In jail, Brown could watch
the gallows being built behind
the building. Every day, he
was told how many more days
he had left. But the attorney
who appealed the case, George
P. Fowler, hadn’t given up. On
the night before the execution
date he obtained from Gov.
W.S. Jennings a stay on the
basis of an irregularity in the
case. The name of Tilghman,
member of the grand jury, was
in the place where Brown’s
was supposed to be on the
death warrant.
The execution day arrived
and the militia had to be called
out to keep order. According to
written accounts that remain,
Brown was on the scaffold, the
noose around his neck when the
telegraph operator came
running up with the stay signed
by the governor. What hap-
pened then, there is no ac-
count, but Brown began ser-
ving his sentence going from a
phosphate mine toa turpentine
camp and then to another mine
run by R.C. Camp who
recognized Brown as a man
who once saved his life.
Camp asked that Brown, who
had been a trusted prisoner for
a year, be pardoned, April 18,
1911, but the pardon didn’t
come through until more than
two years later when Brown
was an old and_ broken
man.Camp pensioned him and
so did the State of Florida in
1929 when two Ocala lawyers
were successful in their efforts
and Brown received $30 a
month for the rest of his life.
Two other convicted mur-
derers, Edgar Youmans and
Will McCoy, were not as for-
tunate as Brown however. Dec.
11, 1911, they were hung from a
scaffold behind the jail. They
could be seen from the street
while standing on the scaffold,
protected from sight of the
crowd gathered to witness the
hanging only when the trap
door was sprung.
These stories come from the
Palatka News And Advertiser,
Dec. 1, 1911 and Master Dec-
tective, June 1934.
Fe ad
Palatka Daily News
May22,
1979
HANGING TAKES
____. PLACE TODAY,
‘A crowd of several thousand people
j drawn thither by morbid Curiosity will
‘witness the hanging of the wretched ne-
‘gro murderers, Youmans and McCoy, in
‘the Palatka jail yard today.
-The scaffold is in the rear of the jail,
in the enclosure, but in plain view of all
the people whose homes and places of
business are in that block. The crowds
fin the street will have aclose and clear
‘view of the condemned men as they
Stand upon the trap.
‘hen. the trap is sprung, both men
Shoot into an entlosure and thus will be
hidden from view.
_. The hanging will lake place at eleven
o’clock this mornirg,
Sheriff Kennerly will be accompanied
by two deputics, possibly other county
| officials, several official wilnesses, the
county physician and the attending min-
; isters. The sheriff, himself, will spring
the trap, ;
The condemned murderers have spent
| their time during the past week in pray-
jing and Singing, ‘They profess repent.
(ance and believe their’ souls have been
isaved. They will each be given an op.
i POrtunily to speak a farewell message to
‘the world from the scaffold. ~
It is impossible fo tell at this time
| whether or not the condemned men will
j be able to meet their fate unflinchingly,
i They have no relatives who haye thus
| far expressed a desire for their bodies.
j McCoy’s mother lives in North Carolina
iand he asked the sheriff to write and
jask her to come and sce him. The
: Sheriff did SO, bul up to now there has
‘been no response.
Te ee ae * os rye ees
. ere : SAW wae
———-
me
7 oe Cae Att
Rego sate . sees ca oy Le ey we a a an 2 uinecy Florida, pec, 2s L191 *
micDONaLy, LO CK, Oe. Ci y BAA bs os So Mt oy 3
b a : /
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all
SHANGED FOR
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ATLING
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OFFICER
rise
ee
|
NEGRO WHO TOOK LIFE oF
: | ae
| DEPUTY SHERIFF JIM BUSH)
VE ry | country where Doc McDonald waa sup-
AT RI R JUNCTION PAID posed tn be located and finally he war
, caught near Dothan, Ada. He wan
PENALTY AT QUINCY YES. | brouxht to Quincy and kept here for
a few days and then carried to Jack.
TERDAY, av sonville and Jodged In the Duval coun-
He was
ty jall for eafeo keeping. — e z
braun back to Quincy at the Octo-
Quiney, Dec. ‘3—(Spectal.)--In the ber term of the circult oe ana found
presence of about elgnt hundred poo- guilty of murder ieee ira Ps
ple, Sheriff G. Scott Gregory, at 12:40 without Paretumen OP ee .
o'clock this morning, pulled the trigger Judge Camp e ; : as
Donaid war ‘standing "and" aie’ osy | pmbrarily for Judes Lave, rentenked
Donald was standing and his body m to ne. Much « Peet)
, PRNETIT f=“ regory==-w ho= secu reds
within. & Monee Gee ee ee hevidence to convict McDonald am the
, the ground where!
Whe oe nines when he} murder.of the popular Gadsden county
| @a* pronounced-dead-by-thecattending Sea ee Needs aes — Oat
physicians, Doctors Davis, Mack, Mc- eye-witness-to Id not be located
Ewen, Green and Godard. As the cago negro, who ,ou
he trial.
courthotise clock was striking the hour in time to testify at t
of 12, the body war cut down by the The hanging of anes he dalle _
\ sheriff and prepared for Lurial, Z the first one during Sheri Peed Sohne E
= MeDonald, un ided, walked out of term of-offtice:-T Ran
the rear door of the » and mounted seven years ago when e's, oO A
the scaffold at 11: oO Clock, and when son, a negro, was hanged ee -
asked by Sheriff Gregory if he had urder-of his wite, "ky Sheriff vd
‘anything to say, he made a few re- oCall, now’ deceased, URE adn
marks, {Irst thanking the sherif¢: and ty, withs ite: larg ore Dehn tia.
his deputies for their kindness to him Deldeton sere nes cltinenac
during hix confinement in jail and fur- borders a set of law a jdpaeced ee)
ther atated that he was ready to go{ See ee Se Or Moe ogee See Ty
as he knew, he was going to Heaven
and told those abaut him if they wanted
to, see him again they would have to
see him in Heaven, - Thia concluded
McDonald's statement, Sherir¢ Gregory
|then ‘adjusted the noose around the
condemned man's neck and Placed the
black cap over his face and after te}]-
ing Doe goodbye, stepped hack . and
sprung the trap. Tring ajl this Me- z
Donald never flinched, and with a per.
fect nerve had waited for the ‘trap ‘to
be sprung and twice during the eleven
minutes before: his death his body drew
UP a short, distance.’ |... 8
tAC-10 o'clock this morning when’ De-
puty 'Bheriff.: Vanlandingham Visited
thet when the time come that he would. :
ik out-and-wet—on-that—Httle-thing :
jthat was erected for Aim and fatr into
the-varma of) Jesus, 7” McDonald. hans
jalways stuck to the atory,that he shot
and killed officer Jim Bush accidental.
A WMSS UN. re 5
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escaped ahd ‘for over. one year Sheriff
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eral trips to different parte of the
ae —— :
a or a ae
STATE OF FLORIDA |
4 N
, yt
,
OFFICE of VITAL STATISTICS
CERTIFIED COPY
April 8,
oS
aS
os
-
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bidet
ee
“ee
ihe
Ronald C. Van Raalte
P. O. Box 72835
Roselle IL 60172
ewe
ie
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19 N
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Dear Applicant,
This is to certify that a thorough search of the central
registry of Florida.containing all counties in Florida has
failed to locate a record: that falls within the criteria
specified below: ee
“
aq
oe =. WLW
2 eas
ro,
eens
eS
V2 ses
vi: Type of event: Death
eee: Name(s): James B. Bush
Calendar year(s) searched: 1914
This statement may be used as prima facie evidence that,
based upon the information provided, the event is not
recorded in this registry.
oe i di SSS
Sincerely,
i” f) Wid
i Cow Sone el
Kenneth T. Jones ae
Vital Records Administrator
Office of Vital Statistics
5
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Se
pk
HRS Form 1226, Apr 90.
THIS IS A CERTIFIED TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF THE OFFICIAL RECORD ON FILE IN THIS OFFICE
oS OLIVER H. BOORDE
BY vee ee ea State Registrar
Pn WA RNI NG « ANY REPRODUCTION OF THIS DGCUMENT IS PROHIBITED BY LAW. DO NOT ACCEPT a) ofr
* UNLESS ON SECURITY PAPER WITH LINES AND SECURITY WATERMARK ON BACK Fs
4887812 %° COLORED BACKGROUND AND GOLD EMBOSSED GREAT SEAL OF THE STATE OF )&
FLORIDA ON FRONT. ALTERATION OR ERASURE VOIOS THIS CERTIFICATION. erent Ol *
i a AE ECR SOE OT) ee ea eet pd
eeu reoeee ee Ss City SoS ee ep
,_ CERTIFICATION OF. VITAL: RECORD .: i Nees Ste
The door shown at right (arrow) is the
enter this house and snatch little James Cash from his bed
one a man used to
By Chester A. Patten
Special Investigator for
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES
Some nameless fear was prey-
ing on the child’s mind, and al-
though he was nearly six years old—
his birthday would be in August—
Mrs. Vera Cash still thought of the
boy—James, but just Skeegie to his
parents—as her baby. :
She had been reading him the
“funny” papers as he sat wide-eyed
and sleepless. He was clad in white
and rose-striped pajamas. For a mo-
ment she chided herself for reading
him the highly melodramatic adven-
tures of the comic-page people. She
laid the papers aside and ruffled the
blond hair that lay close-cropped on
his well-shaped head. She playfully
pinched one of his ruddy cheeks, even
now before Summer, quite tan.
“Oh, Skeegie,” she said, “you know
there’s nothing to be afraid of. You’ve
never been like this before.”
Although in his childish way, little
Skeegie had made it clear that he was
afraid of an intangible something, Mrs.
Cash did not want to encourage the
boy’s fears. She knew that every child
imagines things and that fear is a nor-
mal emotion, particularly evident in a
child left alone at night. This was no
new thing with Skeegie. Often he had
cried for his parents and screamed
when he was frightened. He was shy
with strangers—a nervous child.
“You'll have to go to bed and go to
sleep—then you'll be all right,” she
comforted. “You know I’ll have to
help Daddy with the store tonight.
It’s Saturday.”
“Mommie,” he pleaded again, “don’t
put me to bed. I’m afraid.”
She decided to linger a while longer,
2
Gi some was frightened!
although she knew she should be get-
ting out to the store. James Bailey
Cash, the boy’s father, operated the
grocery store which was, in reality, a
part of the house. The family lived
on the ground floor of the large frame
building and the grocery store was in
front. Besides the store there was a
modern filling station—they had re-
modeled the old building to put in that
improvement—and a soft-drink stand.
The upstairs rooms were rented as
an apartment to Mr. and Mrs. L. L.
Williams, whose small daughter, Shir-
ley, was Skeegie’s playmate.
It was Saturday, May 28, 1938. Mrs.
Cash knew that many residents of
Princeton, Florida, would be in to do
some last-minute shopping for the
week-end and to exchange the gossip
in the little community which lies
south of Miami and almost in the Keys,
a country criss-crossed with swamps,
never-used canals and the almost-
jungle of the Everglades.
The grocery store was open late on
Saturday night and it was Mrs. Cash’s
purpose to help her husband, and now,
as she watched the boy, he began to
close his eyes. He was drifting off to
the land of forgotten fears. He was
asleep. She tiptoed to the door, closed
it softly and went out to the store. It
was 9:30 p.m.
[ T2TLe SKEEGIE was sleeping alone
and unguarded.
But there was no reason to suspect
danger. Cash had no enemies, in fact
he had scores of relatives and friends
in this part of Florida. Why, only the
other day they had been talking and
had counted up 35 members of the
Cash family in the Redland district of
the State. Mrs. Cash banished fears for
the child from her mind. She knew the
doors were fastened, and the Williams
family upstairs would surely hear the
boy if he awoke, became frightened
and cried out.
Out in the store the usual Saturday
night crowd was there. Mrs. Cash
nodded to a good-looking young man
standing at the counter. He looked
like a college youth on a vacation. He
was trim, well muscled and good-
looking. :
“Hello, Frank,” she said.
She knew him well. He was the
McCall boy, who had stayed with them
during the tomato-picking season last
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE.
26 (3S
James B. Cash, Senior: He paid
the $10,000 ransom demanded, but
recovered only his son’s dead body
April. Now he was living with his
wife out on the Lambert place. She
must ask them in to visit one of these
days.
“How are things going?” she in-
quired. This was one of her Satur-
day night duties—partly business,
partly social.
“Just fine, Mrs. Cash,” McCall said.
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Why, I just looked at the clock in
the living-room and it’s only nine-
thirty.”
The youth nodded good evening and
walked out the door of the store. Mr.
Cash was busy over in another part of
the store putting up an order for Mr.
Braxton. They were just standing
OD6
to Mowry Road, to Dixie Highway,
and back to Princeton. At five spe-
cific points, detailed in the map, he
was to signal with the headlights of
his car and, when answered by
flashes from a flashlight, he was to
stop the car, get out, stand in the light
from the headlamps and drop the
money in the road. Then he was to
get back in the car and continue, on
the route laid out, back to Princeton,
The money was to be wrapped in a
shoe-box and the parcel was to in-
clude the two ransom notes already
received.
The deadline for payment was given
as midnight, May 30—Memorial Day.
Cash looked up at his wife. Tragedy
lurked in both their eyes.
“I’m going to call the G-Men!” the
father announced quietly.
“Oh don’t do that. Please don’t!”
said the grieving mother, almost in
tears. “They'll find out and then
they’ll kill Skeegie.”
“But we’ve got to have help,” her
husband insisted. “I know they’ll co-
operate. It’s the only way. I’ve read
it’s the only hope in cases like this.”
How were these two parents to de-
cide what course to pursue? Either
way was fatal. Was it better to pay
the ransom and not notify police? Was
OD6
Sheriff D. C. Coleman, left, discusses plans for
the search with Inspector Connelley of the FBI
it better to fight it out with the help
of the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion? How were they to know? How
is any parent to know? All they
wanted was to have their child—their
Skeegie—back.
The decision was made. James
Cash put in a call to the FBI field
office in Miami.
“Everyone in town knows about it
now,” he told his wife. “That would
mean that the police would find out
anyway. We might as well have ex-
pert help.”
The call for help by James Cash
was relayed to Washington. J. Edgar
Hoover, chief of the G-Men, quickly
assigned men to fly to Miami. Inspec-
tor E. J. Connelley, transferred from
the Levine case, was placed in charge.
Orders flew fast and the well-oiled
machine of the FBI was in motion—no
Federal officer would stop now until
the kidnapers were caught. The die
had been cast.
The note demanding $10,000 was
left at the rear door of the shack,
upper left; Robert Smith, lower
left, points to the spot in the
doorway where James B. Cash
found the sinister kidnap challenge
Hasty conferences were held in the
skyscraper suite of the Miami field
office of the FBI in the Biscayne
Building on Flagler Street. Curt an-
nouncement of the kidnaping was
made to the newspapers and they were
asked to withhold the story in hopes
that the child might be returned safe-
ly. All cooperated and secrecy sur-
rounded the movements of the
G-Men.
Ts Federal agents conferred with
Cash on Sunday morning. He asked
that no search of any kind be made.
He wanted a free hand to dicker with
the child-snatchers. He asked for ad-
vice and received it. His wishes were
respected in every phase. It was his
child and perhaps it was his only hope
of seeing Skeegie again. Every officer
and every newspaperman in Florida
and the Nation subordinated their
duties to recovery of the baby boy.
That was paramount—the child’s
safety.
The G-Men helped James Cash ob-
tain the money. This was difficult, as
the banks were closed over the double
holiday. Cash was not wealthy
there was no trouble in raisin;
$10,000 demanded. Banks in H
stead and Miami helped and
G-Men spent a whole day in t
down the serial number of every
E Lercoagr had been much activity
the time dragged over Sunda)
Monday. To the heart-sick p:
the hours seemed like lifetimes. '
was no word of any kind fron
kidnapers.
Searchers from Princeton h
until 3 a.m. Sunday morning,
they found nothing. Now more
unteers made themselves availab
the time when the grocer anc
G-Men would call upon them.
most everyone in Princeton knew
Skeegie was missing, but on
chosen few knew the details.
knew what had been in the ra
notes except the G-Men, Sheriff
Coleman, and a few close mer
in the family. In fact, many di:
even know there had been ra
notes, although rumor had it so.
The curtains of the Cash hom
mained drawn. Police kept the
ous away. Time had ceased fo:
parents, although Cash was prep
to’ contact the kidnapers. The m
wrapped in the white cardboard
was ready. He had the route m
rized and was keyed up to the
ment. Tomorrow, he hoped, his
would be back safely in the arn
his mother.
On Monday the G-Men had
over the route secretly. They |
that it took only about 40 minut
drive by going 20 miles an hour.
of the specified stops was far
Princeton, and Connelly believed
significant: Possibly the snatchers
no car. f
Other details had been gone
by the expert detectives. They
photographed the two ransom not
that a record would be in their
session when the originals were
livered with the money. -Each
had been gone over carefully for
ger-prints and an endeavor was !
to locate the source of the paper
which the notes had been written
was found that the coarse paper «
be procured from almost any of
small stores of the community.
fact, it might have come from
Cash store itself.
The G-Men questioned Mr.
Mrs. Cash carefully about the «
and his habits. They learned tha
had been a light sleeper—had
Murder of James
there gossiping. Mrs. Cash looked
outside at the pumps of the station.
There Jim Mizell, who worked for her
husband, was lazing as he waited for
a customer to drive up.
There were others in the store who
wanted to be waited on, and she
started taking their orders and adding
up the charge slips in the little cash
books. Soon she had forgotten all
about Skeegie and his childish fears.
The time passed rapidly. It was al-
most 10:30 p.m. when she thought
again of the child.
There was a lapse in the usually
brisk Saturday night trade and she
told her husband about the boy.
“It’s nothing,” he © said. “You
shouldn’t let him get notions like that.”
“I know it, dear, but he’s nervous,
you know. I think I’ll go back and
see how he’s sleeping.”
She left, made her way to Skeegie’s
bedroom.
He wasn’t there!
When the father of little “Skeegie” discovered the cut in
shown below,
the screen door,
“Skeegie, Skeegie,” she called softly,
expecting the boy had arisen and was
wandering around the place. But
there was no answer. Quickly she
made her way into the store again.
“He’s gone,” she said quietly. She
had no reason to fear that he had gone
far. “You didn’t see him come out
here, did you?”
husband said. “I didn’t
Mrs, Cash grew a little nervous, and
her husband, seeing that she was wor-
ried, told her he’d go back with her to
look.
Skeegie still was missing from his
bed!
Cash felt the bed
clothes. They
OD6a
Sr.
Another American Child Kidnaped
May 28, 1938, and This Florida
ays $10,000 Ransom for His
were cold—the boy had been gone
for some time.
“Probably he’s up at the Williams’,”
Cash suggested.
They called upstairs. The Williams
family had gone to bed, but Mr. Wil-
Who Didn't Come Back
é
liams came to the door.
“No,” he said, “we haven’t seen
Skeegie. Shirley’s been in bed for a
long time now. We haven’t seen the
boy since early in the evening.”
MBS. WILLIAMS joined her hus-
band at the door.
“You know,” she said, “we did hear
a noise downstairs a while ago. It
was at one of the back doors. We
didn’t pay any attention to it, think-
ing it must have been one of you
folks.”
That was natural. The Williams
couple had no reason to think that the
noise they had heard was anything
except the father or mother entering
the house, especially since there had
he feared the worst
been no outcry of any kind. They had
heard Skeegie cry in the night before.
This time they had heard nothing but
the muffled slam of the door.
Mr. and Mrs. Cash went back down-
stairs, quickly made their way to the
back door. It was Cash who found it
first—the strange cut in the screen
door.
One corner had been cut out—a tiny
equilateral triangle just big enough to
permit the entrance of a man’s hand
—and the hook on the door was un-
caught.
Someone, some unknown person,
had entered the Cash home!
The parents were frantic by this
time. They knew now that Skeegie had
He seemed to have an intuitive
James Cash, Junior:
feeling that something was going to happen to him
ee
Willard Campbell, operator of a
beer-and-dance hall, was one of
the many questioned by G-Men
not wandered off by himself, although
they called half-heartedly in the dark
for him:
“Skeegie! Skeegie! Skeegie!”
But only the night noises, the
crickets, the chirping insects and
whispering palms answered. Skeegie
was gone. Their search spread out.
The territory around the house was
covered and the neighbors were called
in to help. Nothing was found. Al-
though they didn’t realize it at the
moment, it was the same story that
Americans have learned to recognize
with a twinge of horror when it
screams in heavy black type from daily
newspapers: “Another Kidnaping!”
Among the people who had been
notified was the boy’s uncle, W. P.
Cash, and it was almost 11 p.m. when
he found a note pinned to the door of
his home, located near the James Cash
home.
TT note was simple—terrible in its
directness. It banished all doubt
and caused hope to sink within the
hearts of both mother and father.
The note stated flatly that the child
had been kidnaped. It had been
scrawled crudely with a soft pencil on
a piece of wrapping paper—like the
ind used to wrap meat. The writing
was strung out as if the writer had
been in some tremendous hurry. There
were no details, nothing about ransom,
nothing about the child. The note
stated simply that more specific direc-
‘ions would be found in another mes-
sage which had been left at the home
of John Emanuel in the Negro section
of the town.
With fear clutching at his heart and
accompanied by his brother, W. P.
Cash, and another relative, Ishmael
Cash, and friends, the stricken father
was driven to the house designated. It
was almost midnight and pitch dark.
Flashlights had been brought along to
light the way. The place was found
with little trouble. It was dark—looked
deserted. Could the kidnaper, even
now, be hiding off in the thick palmet-
toes watching, chuckling to his greedy
self as he saw the heart-sick man
read the directions that would lead him
to his boy—his only son?
Only silence greeted the knock on
the door. There were no answering
footsteps. The father, almost mad with
worry, began to pound on the door-
frame. Still no one answered and the
door was broken in. There on the
floor, just inside the screen, and flat as
4
M. F. Braxton, after he was taken
in for questioning by G-Men in
connection with the kidnaping
if it had been slipped under the door,
lay the second note. Flashlights flared
and Cash carefully picked up and
glanced over the second communica-
tion.
Cash handled the note with great
care. He knew he was dealing with the
worst-feared criminals in America—
kidnapers—and he knew that the per-
son or persons who had snatched his
baby might have left a telltale finger-
print on the paper and that this
finger-print might lead to the man, or
men, and thence to his child.
Inspector E. J. Connelley: He be-
lieved Skeegie knew whoever
stole him from his bed
He was too excited for the moment
to make any but a cursory examination
of the note, although his mind grasped
its significance at once. Like the other
note, it had been written in pencil, but
the words were lettered. There were
three pages, but no envelope nor
signature. The note, like the first, was
on wrapping paper, but showed that
more care and thought had gone into
its composing. There were _ specific
details concerning ransom—$10,000
Ishmael Cash, Skeegie’s aviator
cousin, fine-combed the country-
side from the sky seeking him
was asked—how it was to be paid and
how delivered. There was a detailed
map included. Quickly his mind took
in these things, but Cash did not want
to study the note in those surround-
ings, so he told the others he would
take it back to Princeton.
The men climbed into the waiting
automobiles and started on the road
back to the Cash home. Each man in
the small searching party was tense
with excitement and several cried out
when the headlights of the car, driven
by Ishmael Cash, revealed the figure of
aman standing along the roadside. The
man was tall and wore an open-
necked shirt. He was waving a flash-
light, signaling the car to stop.
Ishmael Cash pulled up. Several of
the party recognized the man.
“Why, hello, Frank,” Ishmael said.
“What do you want?”
“Why I saw those cars over at
Emanuel’s place and wondered what
At right, Ormand K. Cash loads
his rifle before joining in the
search for his missing little cousin
was up. Just curiosity, that’s all.
What’s it all about?”
It was Frank McCall, the young
fellow who had stayed with the James
Cash family so long. He lived just off
the road at this point.
“Skeegie Cash is missing,” Ishmael
said. “He’s been kidnaped. You
haven’t seen anyone acting suspicious
around here, have you?”
“No I haven’t,” McCall answered.
“Say, now that’s a shame! I know
the little fellow. I’d like to help you
hunt for him. It would be terrible if
anything happened to him. Can I get
in?”
“Sure. We’ll need all the help we
can get. Hop in.”
With that the party sped back to the
Cash home. There the father went
inside while the rest of the men de-
cided to continue the search. They
believed that it might be possible to
find some clew to the kidnapers or
to the child’s whereabouts if they
worked fast enough.
James Cash went in to his wife. He
could not have taken back more hor-
rible news than he was carrying and
he steeled himself against the mo-
ment he must tell all the details. He
wracked his brain for the words of
comfort he could give the child's
mother even while he himself was
held in the grip of the deepest despair.
Together they studied the note. It
was as bold as the kidnaping itself.
It stated simply and baldly that the
writer had possession of the Cash
child and that $10,000 ransom was de-
manded. The note specified that the
money was to be made up of five-,
ten-, twenty- and fifty-dollar bills,
with a warning that “they better not
be marked.” It warned specifically
against either marking the money or
checking the numbers of the bills and
even demanded that the bills not be
of one series,
HERE also was a warning that the
father not notify the authorities or
newspapers if he wanted to see the
boy alive again.
When James Cash read that his
mouth set in a grim purpose, and the
deep lines of his forehead and about
his mouth became deeper. He said
nothing to his wife, but turned again
to a study of the note.
The directions for delivering the
ransom were complicated. Cash was
to drive alone along Tallahassee Road,
to Moody Road, to Allapattah Road;
VSNL DLN TADLULD
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Florida’s tragic kidnaping case ©
occurred in the small area shown.
here. Inserts show James Bailey -
Cash (left) father of little Jimmy
(center), kidnaped and killed by
Franklin P. McCall (right).
DYNAMIC DETECTIVE :
August, 1938
triad 4
Henry Copenh
the best lead s«
down to head
I think he'll |
valuable infor:
The speaker
Chief Henry T
tired from the
J
eg ET Miami,’ Fla., “police. ‘officer
mat peer where the boty of kid aed
N MAY 27, 1938, the little town of Princeton,
Florida, 20 miles south of Miami, was virtually
unknown. In this mere hamlet life was a matter:
of hard work, some play, and more work. Among
we) le Fe those who worked and lived an honest, respectable life
“FF was James Bailey Cash, his wife, and their 54-year-old
son, “Skeegie.”
Skeegie was a tow-headed, vivacious child, beloved
by all, and of course especially by his parents. There
was nothing extraordinary about the boy, just another
normal, healthy lad, who would probably grow up and
_perhaps take his place in his father’s grocery store.
There are millions like him in the world, and most of
them will live, work, love, marry and die unheralded
in their respective communities.
However, Skeegie Cash, or James Bailey Cash, Jr.,
was not to die unknown. Instead, his name was to be
emblazoned in the scare-headlines of the nation’s press.
But little Skeegie was never to know of his world-wide
heii fame, because he was dead, killed at the hands of
Ea oes. one of the strangest kidnapers the world can recall.
“SKEEGIE”—_ I knew Skeegie and his parents before the great
The name of this 5-year-old . ¥ tragedy, and I knew his murderer. Moreover, during
boy was emblazoned on front [: his short imprisonment in the Dade County jail, I lived
pages of the nation’s press. ; with this half-gentle, half-monstrous young man.
: On May 28, between 9:35 and 10:15, Skeegie Cash
ys iz i i ; was missed from his bed in his room in back of the
7 ig een b * store. The discovery was made by his mother. At first she
i ef ee : did not become too alarmed and thought he had gone
into one of the other rooms. After searching all the
rooms, she became frightened and rushed back to the
store to tell her husband.
Mr. Cash assured his wife that Skeegie had merely
walked around the yard and would return shortly. Then
he went to the apartment and began to look himself.
After half an hour of searching, inside and outside, he
became alarmed and told a few close friends, and they
all started to search for .the missing boy.
After an hour of useless investigating, local police
were notified. Soon the sheriff’s office, in Miami, was
called in and several deputies went to Princeton. Among
& 1. RAY MILLS—
By State Investigator The Florida State Investigator tells in
I. RAY MILLS these pages the first official version
Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida of sensational Cash kidnaping case.
ree of defena-
th day of May,
the defendant
rst degree, and
dy of the jailor
confined in the
- until Tuesday,
1891, on which
e hanged.
nstitution of the
jes: ‘The right
‘emain inviolate,
-horize the trial
-atter in dispute
rs, by a jury of
’e criminal pro-
of New Jersey
‘ch shall be per-
n, or by laying
kind of willful.
ated killing, or
in. perpetrating
trate any arson.
- burglary, shail
| 5Yst Cegree; 2m:
hall be ceeme:
nmiession
sntion are illegal.
irtue of the stai-
2 or New Jersey,
(rder cases eNists,
deal to any higher
‘ew or annul said
ence.
ersey retused.
‘ehalf ot the ap-
z and sentence of
miner of Hudson
he is deprived of
ced ve hanged,
Le minal pro-
wae Jersey, in
McCALL v. STATE Fla 613
185 So.
pursuance of the provisions of which such
judgment and sentence were rendered, iS
repugnant to the fourteenth amendment of
the constitution of the United States [U.
S.C.A.Const. Amend. 14] which 1s in these
words:
“‘Nor shall any State deprive any per-
son of life, liberty or property without
due process of law.’ Such repugnancy iS
supposed to be found in the proposition
that a verdict by a jury is an essential part
in prosecutions for felonies, without which
the accused cannot be said to have been
condemned by ‘due process of law; and
that any act of a state legislature provid-
ing for the trial of felonies, otherwise than
by a common-law jury, composed of 12
men, would be unconstitutional and void.
“Upon the question of the right of one
charged with crime to waive a trial by
jury, and elect to be tried by the court,
when there is a positive legislative enact-
ment, giving. the right so to do, and con-
_ferring power on the court to try the ac-
‘cused in such a case, there are numerous
decisions by state courts upholding the
validity of such proceeding. Dailey v.
State, 4 Ohio St. 57; Dillingham v. State,
3 Ohio St. 280; People v. Noll, 20 Cal.
164: State v. Worden, 46 Conn. 349 [33
Am.Rep. 27]; State v. Albee, 61 N.H.
[423], 428 [60 Am.Rep. 325].
“Tf a recorded confession of every mate-
rial averment of an indictment puts the
confessor upon the country, the institu-
tion of jury trial and the legal effect and
nature of a plea of guilty have been very
imperfectly understood, not only by the
authors of the constitution and their suc-
cessors down to the present time, but aiso
by all the generations of men who have
lived under the common law. It is only
necessary, in order to determine whether
the legislature transcended its power in the
act, to inquire whether it is prohibited by
the constitution. The right of the accused
to a trial was not affected and we can
wherefore have no doubt that the proceec-
Ing to ascertain the degree of the crime
where in an indictment for murder, the
defendant enters a plea of guilty, is con-
stitutional and valid. Statutes of like or
similar import have been enacted in many
of the states, and have never been held
unconstitutional. On the other hand, they
have been repeatedly and uniformly held to
be constitutional.”
We commend the reading of the opinion
in full, with the notes thereto appended,
in 36 L.Ed., supra, to those interested
further in this subject. See, also, Green
v. Commonwealth, 12 Allen, Mass., 155.
So it is that the questions from 1 to 6,
inclusive, and questions 10 and 11 must be
answered contrary to the contentions of
plaintiff in error.
As has been hereinbefore stated, the
record before us, together with the ad-
missions made at the bar of this court by
counsel for the respective parties, show that
while the defendant was arraigned and
pleaded to the indictment before having
the advice of counsel, the conclusion is
inescapable that the court set the case
tentatively for trial to give the defendant
opportunity to confer with counsel appoint-
ed by the court and that before proceed-
ing with the trial when the defendant was
in court accompanied by his counsel, the
trial judge gave him every opportunity to
present any motion which he might wish
to present, which necessarily included a
motion to withdraw the plea of guilty and
enter a plea of not guilty, and counsel an-
nounced to the court that he did not de-
sire to present any motion.
[5] The entire record shows that the
plaintiff in error was deprived of no legal
right and that after the State had closed
its taking of testimony the defendant volun-
tarily went on the stand as a witness and
reaffirmed his plea of guilty and then told
in detail of every step which he took in
the commission of the crime charged
against him.
The defendant in the court below never
at any time, either before, during or atter
the trial, intimated that he wished to
withdraw his plea of guilty and enter a
plea of not guilty. The only reasonable
and logical conclusion is that the defend-
ant, fully realizing his guilt, believed that
he would have a better chance to escape
death by submitting the evidence to a ma-
ture, fair-minded and impartial judge than
he would have to submit the evidence to
a jury of twelve men drawn trom the body
of the county and that he deliberately and
advisedly exercised that choice.
[6] The record shows beyond and to
to exclusion of every reasonable doubt that
no extenuating circumstances existed
which could in reason commend the de-
fendant to the mercy either of a jury or
of a trial judge.
The record fails to show that the con-
stitutional rights of the defendant were
JERNIGAN v. HARRISON . . Fla. 511
186 So.
United States, U.S.C.A., to be represented
by counsel at his trial and that smch right
was in substance denied.
The conditions assumed by the petition-
er in his petition to have existed are not
shown by the record to have existed, but
the contrary is shown.
We have in our opinion, supra, set out
in detail what the record shows oecurred
at and concerning the trial. The record
shows affirmatively that when the defend-
ant appeared at the bar of the court with
counsel previously appointed to represent
him the trial judge asked the defendant
and his counsel if they had any motions
to present. Counsel replied in effect that
they had no motions to present amd were
ready to proceed. When the State had in-
troduced its evidence before the trial judge,
upon being interrogated by . his counsel,
_ McCall stated that he had entered a plea
of guilty to the indictment charging kid-
japing to hold for ransom, and he reas-
serted that such was his plea. He then
clearly, intelligently and deliberately told
in detail every step of his perpetration of
the crime charged. He made ne conten-
tion that he was not guilty of the crime
charged in the indictment, nor did he make
any contention of any sort that if given
all the time of the future he could prepare
any detense to the charge then pending
against him,
Counsel appointed for him by the Court
is recognized by this Court as an able,
active and conscientious lawyer of many
years of experience in the trial of crim-
inal cases. We recognize the mile laid
down in the cases of Powell v. Alabama,
-o7 U.S. 45, 53 S.Ct. 55, 77 L.Ed 158, 84
A.L.R. 527, and Johnson v. Zerbst, as
Warden, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct 1019, 2
L.Ed. 1461, but we find that the rules
statcd in those cases have no application
in the instant ggse because of the control-
ling differences in factual conditions.
[2] We also have before us a petition
fled by one E. H. Crowson, on behalf of
piaintiff in error in which he petitions
this Court to reverse the judgment and to
award a new trial upon the ground that
\{[cCall now has asserted as follews:
“(1) That I do hereby assert my inno-
cence of the crime alleged and do protest
that my plea of ‘guilty’ in the court was
obtained from me by torture, dmress and
fraudulent misrepresentation of the facts
involved; and
“(2) That I do request that this be con-
sidered as a full repudiation of the afore-
said former ‘plea’ of ‘guilty’, and that all
concerned to whom this may come take
due notice thereunto and act as the law
provides and according to justice; and,”
etc.
This alleged repudiation can have no
more force and effect than such action
would have in any other case where a man
has freely and voluntarily fully admitted
his guilt and then, when about to be exe-
cuted for the crime, decides to tell some
other story with the hope of escaping pun-
ishment.
Both petitions are denied.
So ordered.
TERRELL, C J., and WHITFIELD,
BROWN, BUFORD, CHAPMAN, and
THOMAS, JJ., concur... a
iad
10
186 SOUTHERN REPORTER
McCALL v. STATE.
Supreme Court of Florida,
Feb. 10, 1939.
{. Criminal law €—641(1)
A defendant convicted of kidnapping
could not complain that he was denied as-
sistance of counsel, where an able, active,
and conscientious lawyer of many years of
experience was appointed for defendant and
defendant reasserted on examination that he
pleaded guilty and clearly told in detail ev-
ery step of the kidnapping. U.S.C.A.Const.
Amends. 5, 6, 14.
2. Criminal law €=274
A defendant who was convicted of kid-
napping after he pleaded guilty would not be
permitted to repudiate guilty plea, where de-
fendant was represented by counsel and
clearly, intelligently, and deliberately told
in detail every step of the crime, and made
no contention that he was not guilty, or
that he could. prepare a defense if given more
time. a, oe
Se
Error to Circuit Court, Dade County;
H. F. Atkinson, Judge.
On motion for recall of mandate and
for rehearing.
Motion denied.
For former opinion, see 185 So. 608.
C. A. Avriett and E. C. Rutledge, both
of Jasper, for plaintiff in error.
George Couper Gibbs, Atty. Gen., Lawr-
ence A. Truett and Tyrus A. Norwood,
Asst. Attys. Gen., and G. A. Worley, State
Atty., of Miami, tor the State.
PER CURIAM.
The plaintiff in error, Franklin Pierce
McCall, through his counsel, has presented
to us a motion in the form ot an Extraor-
dinary Petition for Recall ot Mandate
heretofore issued in this case and tor a
rehearing.
[1] In that petition he has set up eight-
een (18) numbered paragraphs. The sum
total of all the allegations contained in the
petition is that this Court in rendering its
opinion and judgment filed herein on the
3rd day of January, 1939, overlooked the
rule of law that the plaintiff in error had
the right, under the 5th, 6th and 14th
Amendments to the Constitution orf the
a
raN@taard
a Y
616 ‘Filla.
violated in any regard and does show that
the proceedings and the judgment were
in conformity with the law and the facts.
The judgment is, therefore, affirmed.
So ordered.
Affirmed.
TERRELL, C. J., and THOMAS, J,
concur.
WHITFIELD, P. J., and BROWN and
CHAPMAN, is concur in the opinion
and judgment.
° KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
ANmMs
STRICKLAND et al. v. COE.
Bapretie Court ‘of Florida. _
Dec. 31, 1938.
Appeal and error > 1001(1)
Where, after consideration of the entire
record, no reversible error appeared and evi-
dence was legally sufficient to sustain the
verdict and judgment, judgment would be
affirmed,
Error to Circuit Court, Escambia Coun-
ty; L. L. Fabisinski, Judge.
Action by William C. Coe against W,
B. Strickland and others, as and consti-
tuting the Board of Public Instruction of
Escambia County. To review a judgment
for the plaintiff, defendant brings error.
Affirmed.
John Lewis Reese, of Pensacola, for
plaintiffs in error.
John M. Coe, of Pensacola, for defend-
ant in error.
PER CURIAM.
Writ of error is to a judgment in favor
of plaintiff.
The plaintiff in error has stated ei¢ht
questions for our consideration, but, after
all is said, there is only one question pre-
sented by the record and that is, whether
or not the evidence was legally sufficient to
sustain the verdict and judgment.
After a careful consideration of the en-
tire record, we must hold the evidence to
185 SOUTHERN REPORTER
be legally sufficient and, no reversible er-
Tor appearing, the judgment must be af-
firmed,
It is so ordered.
Affirmed.
TERRELL, C. J., and WHITFIELD,
BROWN, BUFORD, and CHAPMAN,
ii, concur,
° KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
aums
STATE ex rel. GINSBERG et al. v. DREKA
et al.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Dec. 7, 1938.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 23, 1039.
1. Highways €=136
Hospitals ¢=2
Homesteads to the ralue of $5.000 lo-
cated in Daytona Beach Special Road and
Bridge District, Halifax Hospital District,
and the Halifax Special Road and Bridge
District are not exempt from taxation for
payment of salaries, maintenance and up-
keep of such special assessment districts
under constitutional provision exempting
homesteads from all taxation other than spe-
cial assessments for benefits. Const. art. 10,
&
2. Municipal corporations C=434(5)
Homesteads must share in the legitimate
expense of administering special assessment
districts. Const. art. 10. § 7.
BROWN and THOMAS, JJ., dissenting.
®
—_——
Original proceeding in mandamu s by the
State. on the relation of J. Ginsberg and
another, relators, against J. Godtrey Dreka,
as Chairman of the Board of County Com-
missioners of Volusia County, and others to
compel the revision of certain 1938 tax
levies and assessments. On demurrer and
on motion to strike alternative writs there-
tofore issued.
Motion overruled,
Joseph Ginsberg,
relators.
of Daytona Beach, for
-<
MIAMI HERALD, Miami, Florida, Dec. 7, 1917, page two
kone His
erything is jn- readiness for the
Pie pra of Clarence McKiriney, col-
ored, who will be hanged in the, Dadé
county ail some time between 10
o'clock this morning and 2 o'clock this
afternoon. f
McKinney has been fntopined that
alt hope of securing a commutation of
his sentence has been abandoned, and
ay he is prepared for'the end.
The condemned man spends his last
houts very quietly studying the Bible
and ‘elarte he feels confident that
his sins will be forgiven.
Sheriff Moran has all his plans.:
completed for the executiton which
will ml ae uletly. No definite
hour n fixed by the sheriff.
The htys has issued passes to a
nur.ber of persona who wilh witness |.
the tion, which will take place in| |
the old section of the jail.
McKinney has slept and eaten well
duxing his. last days and apparently
takes Ais fate lightty. |
The erfme' of which he was ¢on-
vitted wab the murder, on Dec. 18
iis of Rev. James Bolton, an¥etired
clergyman ' who resided at te
coanut Grove. -
, sis
a et et ee
ending phy
Q| telephone, °
yf AEAInst me,” The same question was
s}out to murder the clergyman and had
ihe not met him walking neab his
4 ‘home while he Was leaving the lace
Aihe. wauld hate pr aed
ee him, Plainly seen, how.
e fever, that the NCkrO Was bent Q0Mur-
y der. He procured & revolver but it is
believed he intended to kill his Wife
@ with Whom he nad bee enrages):
Z and tht Warriy,
“probably prevente this tragedy.
: e Murdered ‘Man.
The Rev. James Bolton Was a loved
and respected Citizen of Cocdanut
Zi Grove where he has resided for more
"¢, than twenty years. He Was a native
slot Liverpool, England, Where he wag
born about seventy-six y
had been | SdCnt of tits }
for the nust thirty-five years, He was
Pastar of the Congregational churches
at Apalachicola and Green .Cove
Springs when he first came to
this state thirty-five years apo. Ie
Was later transferred: ty Key West
Where for fifteen years he was pastor
of the Fleming street church. ,
Jt was about Jigs, that Dr, Bolton
i first ‘came Dbrbbidebebet fro, ani!
‘t| conducted Services in the Congrega-
tional church kt that Place for a num.
“| ber of venrs until he retired about fif-
af teen” years RKO since which time he
“| has been engaged IN canning fruits
~{and preserves and later in the real
‘9 | estate buginess, . During 'h 8 Pastoriz]
. | duties Dr, Bolton Purchaged several)
LPtracts of ftand Which grew in value
At and only two or three vears upo he
1{ Made 4q- subdivision of his property,
» | Near the railroad atation, and the lat-
“{ ter years of hiy life have been devot.
it} ed to his real estate interests,
, Mr. Bolton WAS married gt Bowlin
"| Green, Ky.. Many yeary apo: but his
i | Wife died about twelve beak aro. He
Sete anne:
CAE OIA
yemite tio},
Be oN.
‘sician administered any drugs: coutd
not be learned last night as Dr. Cleve.
—|Innd could not be réached on the
{reply was: “Ho Influenced my wife
ears ago and |
Crs
Niv
Sop
Jof
~~
Tin ;
I.
| Fry.
i
M
cert.
()
Tee:
‘ie
\W
Mist
[?
2
dre’
| Was a trustee and a deacon: in the
4! Cocoanut . Grove Con regational
church for Many years ind Wee n de-
»} Voted member of that congregation:
||: ‘The remaing Were’ brought to this
taking. Parlors of the W. H, -Combs
Company ‘where they :were ‘prepared
for buriak The funeral will occur on
e]
Q.
3
aw
?
—~
<
S
ao)
Cc
oO
“~
ct
>
2
c
1
a
R
°
dy, Jus-
EV, JAMES BOLTON
SHOT DOWN IN COLD
$1000 B
(Continued from
Page Onc)
tly never offered t
ras is known.
Trouble between ¢]
‘fe reached a climan
When she reportd
‘iee of the Peace}
don owarrant for the man’s arrest. |
is Was placed in the hands of Con-
idle A. J. Page who-sought to find
Neyrre.
“he constable wen
-eet home of the
clack yesterday aft
his man who
tatek door, The
i Into the bauek y:
McKinney went
» Was soon on the
Found the
When Constable \
iEN
‘intervene in so
ke negro and his
yesterday morn-
rd lis conduct tol
Thomas who is- |
t te the William
ceunle about
kernoon und there;
escaped throurch |
Dicer went after!
Prd but as he did |
tround the house!
station road,
Body.
'
age reached the!
ALS
ot
t
Vnhet
iESE PROPERTLES [LASTED WITH US
; EXCLUSIVELY
eens on an (
FURNISHED! HOUSES
rooms—asleeping porch. $600 seuson. _ 215
i¢th St, Dist. 1, C: :
soma, sleeping porch karage, $1,000 nea-
>
a
eo
n. 289° 16th St. Dist. S$. 7s ?
woums, @jeeping. porch guracc, $600 season.
[0 18th St, Dist. 6, FR:
coms—-$300 senson. 109 dth St., Dist. 2] T.
‘oMga Saraye—$i50 season, 2112 Ave. D,
iat 3, BY f oe
rcoms—eleeping porch, garnce. $175 per
onth,. "826 18th St. /Dist. 8, GQ ;
oon leeping pdrch} 31500 senson. 1428
(t, Dallos Park, Dist 1, T. .
woma—Sleeying porch) garuve. $600 season.
“ogoandt Grove. Dist. /3, E. ite 4
Doma leap i nay . $425 season. “Ocean |
‘each, Digt 7, W.
rooine—2 sleeding pol
or Bemson.' 223 18th Gt, Dist. 1, D.
‘oome-—Garage. $150) for season. 220 Ave
‘*. North, Dist 2, 0. |
ae ke monthly. | West Bayside Park.
rey . . 4 a P %
i at ae for yeasoh. 1015 10th St. Dist.
ess Monthy. Grapeland Boulevard.
ithe Pk MRE POLE gf Ue he
ara SE) for’ weasoh.' $15 {ith St. Diet.
alan 20 etason. inset, near Ave. Q.
A De te aie. ww}
~omsa—gaYrazre.” BI ne Drive. ‘$550 for
‘apon, Dist, 2, P. | .
ona —Qa raire. - $606 for season. Ocean
each, Dist, BA is hi bs
20) 8—Ga rare, 2000 for senson.. 126
atheryn Ave. Dist 8, Yo...)
li stat Aor season. 1128 9th Bt “Diat,
ropered fire,
rehes, garage. ‘$1,200! Peace the negro had been taken into
aod.
Negro Badly ‘Wounded.
Laat
back yard he heard four pistol shots
and went at once in the direction from
when¢ée they came, not thinking that
it was ‘the negro that ‘Caused the
trouble. The constable soon reached
the street and there saw the body of
Mr. Bolton Iving in a pool of blood,
dead, + | .
The officer sent word to Justice of
the Peace Thomas and hailing a‘pass-
ing ‘automobile, went to the direction
of the postoftice where he found An-
drew. Hurdie, Will Price and a ‘few
others who jumped into the car end
Were driven at once to the scene
the crime. .
Mr. Bolton was shot in
three times and either wound woud
have proven fatal, according to Dr.
Cleveland, who examined the body ag
it lay upon the ground. wo of the
bullets entered just below the right
shoulder blade while the third enter-
Wa
the back
ed in the Jower part of the back
and passed through the heart. ‘This
bullet was found just beneath — the
skin below the nipple of the lef
breast,
The negro who escaped into a near-
by™ wood, suddenly reappeared upon
the scene flourishing his revolver and
When the posse approached him, he
‘The shots were return-
edo ound the negro fell to the ground
desperately wounded. ~
Dr. Theodore PB. Cleveland, wha
resides in the residential section of
Cocoanut Grove, was summoned and
mude an examination .of ‘Dr.’ Bolton’s
wounds but it was too late for him
to render any assistance, as the nian
was’dead. The physician then turned
his attention to the wounded murder-
er and = pronounced his
scrious and. ordered him brought ‘to
this city.
The shooting occurred about 2:30
yesterday afternoon:and the station |
agent at the Cocoanut Grove
telephoned to the’ sheriff’s office in
this city. Deputy Sheriff Pratt who
Was thero at the time, procfred an
autamobile and with Roundenfan Star-
ling went at once to the seen
shooting, but when they reached the
depot
.
s
The negro murderer was still cons-
cious when placed on a cot in the.coun-
ty jail but was apparently suffering
much pain. . His demeanor indicated
also that he was, suffering from tome:
opiate but whether the attending phy-
sician adminis
not be learned Jast night’as Dr. Cleve.
land. could not bel réathed on the
telophone, ai hcg ae ae
Seen by. a ‘Herald, reporter last
condition: °
——
e of ‘the}:
nistered ‘any drugs::could|.
night, night, McKinney wns askad why
he ‘committed the crime and his only |
r 4 a? ‘ sf
if
rien Se
ye an”
id came tend drank )
\nd he tried to take
lied me ‘darling.’”.
th laughed cheerily.
trouble?” she asked
, Henry does go on
mally, and then he’s
than that. [thought
nted to kiss you. But
"a a good sort and I
of him. Now it isn’t
- ple at the cat, just
it, my dear? If he
* man—”
> her room. And the
mething worse oc-
eame in shrill tones,
4 room.
rush to the door,
vw. Mr. Stuart wus
had his wife by the
munding her untner-
fints,
ed Dora, running to-
amatched his fingers
eck and struck bim
he face. Mr. Stuart
azed.
lay your hands upon
claimed Mra. Stuurt,
ed Dora. “To strike
now, young women,
interference between
iysei?,” anapped Mra.
dly take yourself off
. and leave Jim and
Aifferences in our
{ from the room
rders were congre-
Too bad!” said little
apathetically.
you call it?’ cried
“Too bad? Why,
4 wife, beating herT
ing 86 outrageous in
There he is at it
art’s voice was loud
‘@ a dozen doors.
miserable female!”
out -of po housé,
yrq
CAR 4 is ae
4 y
,
r
eit ie ote. Ba
ava F
ma. ¢ % leis
“me war HERALD. MONDAY. ‘pecesinen 2 6, 1916.
FOUR MURDER
TRIALS IN JAN.
At the Next Term of the Circuit
Court Which Convenes
Next Month
MAY BE A FIFTH CASE
[' Glarence MeKinney Who Mur-
dered Rey, James Bolton
Is Tried This Term
Four murder trials are to come up
at the next term of the circuit court,
the night following the robbery of!
the Homestead bank, on September
15 last.’
- This erime is too fresh in the minds
of the reading public to need any pre-
liminary introduction., The two ac-
cused men are alleged to have com-
mitted the robbery in company with
Leland Rice, a brother of one of the
men, and James Tucker, and in making
their escape the fatal shooting oc-
curred. '
Leland Rice and Tucker met their
deaths at Cockoloskee several days
afterwards, after they had been run
down by several fishermen of that
section, but Frank Rice and Alder-
man were brought back here for trial.
The last grand jury indicted both
of thé: men for murder in the first
degree and they will be brought to
trial at the coming term.
The only woman who is charged
with murder is Charlotte Turner, a
negress, who is accused of murdering
her husband. She eluded the coun-
ty officials for some time, but one
day last fall Deputy Sheriff Pratt
located her and locked her up. She
who has not been captured.
The most recent case that will come
which convenes heré duripg the first : 5 i
week in Japuaseaccordine to BEateaTup for trial at the coming term is that
steely John C. Gramling of the
Eleventh judicial district.
At least four murder trials and a
possible -fifth will be heard at the
next term of the circuit court which
convenes here on TuesdagP@January 2,
Sheriff Dan Hardie, who retires from
office on that day, ‘will turn over the
reins to D. W. Moran, who was elect-
ed at the last yenerat election and it
will be up to the new county official
e
to obey the wishes of the jury in each
case.
Madison Moore, who was convicted
of murder in the second degree some
time ago, is still incarcerated in the
county jail, awaiting for the decision
of the supreme court to which tribu-
nal his case has been referred. Should
this request for a new trial be grant-
ed there will be four capital cases to
come before the court. ;
Will Simmons, another negro, re-
cpived a lifa sentence for murder, but
gp still in the county jail awaiting a
hearing on his appeal for a commuta-
tion of his sentence.
The two most interesting cases’ to
come up at the coming term of the
court are those of Hugh Alderman
Rand Frank Rice, the. two men who are
f,
of Clarence McKinney, the negro who
recently -shot-and Kitled Rev. James
Bolton, a retired white clergyman, at
Cocoanut Grove, a few’days ago.
McKinney was engaged as a car-
penter at Cocoanut Grove’ and ‘had
trouble with his wife. The worman
had- instituted © divorce
against him.for which he became. an-
gry at‘ her and ‘threatened her life.|
A warrant was sworn att for his ar-|
rest and when a constable went to ar-
rest him he escaped through the rear
door and wenf to the yard of the aged
minister and shot him dead. -
When seen pat the county jail short:
ly after the ‘murder. the,negro stated
that the murdered man had é¢aused
trouble between the negro and his
wife. McKinney was shot in several
parts of the body with shot, but: hes
fully recoyered.
John C. Gramling, state’s attorney,
dispose of all of the murder cases bée+
fore the court at this term.
‘ re i : 5.
- A number/of date palm trees ‘have
been brought from Africa to Califor- |":
| cessfully. oo =
accused: of the murder of Allen ‘and
Will Henderson and C. R. Williams,} i
members of Sheriff Hardie’s posse,||
who were killed at Everglade tank on}}
is alleged to have had a paramour,|}
proceedings,
says that an effort will be made to}.
nia, where dates are now raised’ BUCH.
store
‘ony
* frie
Roem: aids be
f for. ‘mother :An
\sons.-Give rat:
Box 602; City.
A camera: ts
figures’ on one
f
’
ia ss a
4
ae he ae y
eee ¥:
yi? ; ity? a
( 4A
. ; ‘
OF v ve } % , }
eee a ens Re a badd ll awee TT a en ne a EPrPnOErETrMrTTTITTT Tiitiiniiiiiiiiiniiitit
As
od
k
1g
XG
ilf
Qn
mn,
10-
on
ire
vat
he
in-
en
is
vas
se-
ilar
fest
heve
yvever,
would
te the
news-
Lo and
youne-
« kid-
He
failed
ing of
Under
keep
their promise. He asked radio stations
and newspapers to state that “the roads
were open” and that they would not be
harmed while attempting to release the
child. Law enforcement officers, convinced
that the abductors’ assurances were In-
sincere, reluctantly agreed to wait an-
other night before acting.
Indignation was evident on every hand.
Frequent mention of “rope” and “lynch”
was made as the hours passed without
word from the kidnapers. A ‘hundred
friends of the family took it upon them-
selves to start a search for-the boy. It was
confined, however, to the immediate
vicinity of the home and was conducted
haphazardly without results. ‘ ;
Plans were discussed for an intensive
search to start Wednesday morning.
Fritz Gordon, prominent Miami attorney,
assumed responsibility for organizing a
posse and a mass meeting was called for
7:30 o’clock Tuesday evening. It was at-
tended by more than a thousand people.
Gordon, in addressing the meeting, said:
oy E want all of you to go to your
homes after this meeting and give
the kidnapers a chance to return the boy.
There is a slight possibility that he will
be returned during the night; the roads
must be kept open. In the event he. is
not returned, we want every able-bodied
man in South Florida to be here at nine
o’clock tomorrow morning.
“Wear heavy boots or shoes and old
clothing. The territory which must be
searched is probably the roughest and
wildest. in the whole United States. Much
of it is covered with rank palmetto
thickets, underbrush and scrub pine. Some
of it is rocky, and a large portion of it
borders on the Everglades where there
are swamps and sink holes. There is much
danger from rattlesnakes. This is no job
for weaklings. We will need strong men
and this will be no picnic. :
“Do not bring guns. We are not going
to hunt for the kidnapers. Uncle Sam will
catch them, We are going to search for
Skeegie Cash.. It is possible that the ab-
ductors have released him in some remote
spot and he is wandering around lost. He
cannot survive many hours amid mos-
quitoes, the tropical sun, snakes and other
dangers to which he would be subjected
if he has been turned loose. We must
cover the largest amount of territory in
the shortest possible time. The life of the
child may be in our hands. The territory
will be carefully mapped. Each searching
party will have a carefully selected leader
familiar with the terrain and territory, I
want to say to the kidnapers—if they are
listening—that this search will begin at
nine o’clock tomorrow morning. They
have until that time to return Skeegie
Cash to his heart-broken parents. Please ,
go to your homes now and listen to your
radios, You will be informed if the child
is returned during the night.”
Many of those assembled in Princeton,
Tuesday night, did not go to their homes
—hundreds elected to remain there, sleep-
ing in cars or. huddling around the filling
station to discuss the case. Hours passed
without a single word of news.
Wednesday morning, Miami radio sta-
tions cancelled scheduled broadcasts and
turned their microphones over to Com-
manders of the American Legion, National
Guardsmen, Boy Scouts, CCC workers,
Veterans of Foreign Wars, and a half-
dozen civic organizations for the purpose
of making appeals to members to join the
posse being formed at Princeton. Inspec-
tor Connelley of the FBI, Sheriff Coleman
and Mr. Gordon appeared with maps of
more than 100 square miles of territory
around Princeton and charts of all ad-
jacent waters.
True Detective Mysteries
Before nine o’clock more than 2,000
men had poured into Princeton and
hundreds of others were on the way. A
vacant warehouse was selected as posse
headquarters. Red’ Cross field kitchens
were set up beside the warehouse and
an ambulance with a medical crew
stood by to aid any searchers bitten by
rattlesnakes,
Fifteen men were assigned to each
group. Instructions were given to search
every abandoned building, outhouse, and
all dwellings which might appear sus-
picious, Members of the posse were
ordered to refrain from violence in the
event that occupants of houses objected to
the search, but were distinctly ordered to
post a guard at any such places and to
return to headquarters immediately for
assistance and further instructions, The
search was to be confined to the swamps,
thickets and open ground surrounding
Princeton, Seventy-five boats were in
readiness to take up the search of canals,
crecks and waters along the Florida keys
south and north of Princeton, Posse men
were told to stay five feet apart to form
a human chain.
Everything was in readiness at nine
o’clock. The posse by that time numbered
nearly 2,500.
“Wait just one more hour,” pleaded
Jim Cash,
Leaders of the posse looked at each
other and at the father. They nodded
their heads in consent. The minutes
ticked away. Gordon kept his eyes on his
watch, When the hands reached ten he
raised his arm,
“All right, let’s go,” he said simply.
Twenty-five hundred sturdy residents,
many of whom had faced German machine
guns in the Argonne, stepped forward and
swept out of Princeton in a wave.
A squadron of bombing planes from the
Opa Locka Naval Base, commanded by
Lieutenant Commander R. P. McDonald,
flew over the town, and observers with
powerful field-glasses scanned the terrain
below. Half a dozen privately owned
planes joined the search,
HE seventy-five boats at Featherbed
Bank, a few miles below Princeton,
moved at the stroke of ten to survey all
adjacent waters. More than a_ score of
divers piled equipment into waiting trucks
to dive into rock pits and quarry holes
filled with water, The search for Skeegie
was under way in earnest.
The FBI now went into action openly
with its usual precision. Twenty deputies
from Sheriff Coleman’s office Joined the
throngs in Princeton.
Isxperts from the FBI went over the
bedroom in the Cash home. The slit
in the screen door was photographed from
all angles. The spot where the ran-
som money was paid was roped off. A
footprint found in the dust was soon
turned into a moulage. Pieces of the shoe
box in which the ransom money was de-
livered, found under a rock a few hundred
feet away, were carefully wrapped in wax
paper and rushed to Headquarters in
Miami for minute inspection under micro-
scopes, Circulars showing the numbers
of the ransom bills were distributed
throughout South Florida by mail carriers
with instructions to deliver a copy to each
business establishment.
John Emanuel, the negro at whose home
the second note was found, was ques-
tioned by FBI agents. His story was
a most unusual one. He said that he had
been alone in his cabin about ten o’clock
on the night of the kidnaping when
someone knocked on his door, J*rom out-
side a low voice ordered him to get up
and take a note to J. B. Cash, and prom-
ised him five dollars for performing
111
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112
the errand. Emanuel said he became
frightened and refused to open the door.
When the man becaine insistent, he ran
wut of the back and fled into the woods,
fearing that he might become involved
in some criminal action, He told the
agents he did not see the man, but be-
Neved that the voice was disguised. When
Cash and the others had later come to the
cabin, he was still hiding in the woods.
Emanuel’s story was accepted and he
was taken to FBI Headquarters in Miami
where he sat for several days behind a
heavy screen listening to the responses of
dozens of persons who were being ques-
tioned, in an attempt to pick out the voice
he heard that night. ,
Meanwhile, other agents were question-
ing Franklin McCall, Harry Wright and
the Cash brothers about the ransom notes
which had been found. Mrs. Beatrice Jash
told of. finding the first note on her door.
Asbury was unable to explain how it got
there. Neither Wright nor McCall could
explain the third note which was found
under the door of Wilson’s filling station,
but McCall was able to furnish the agents
with their first lead when he told of see-
ing some one at the filling station door
a moment before the note was found.
Furthermore, he believed he knew the
name of the man who slunk away into the
shadows. To the G-men he whispered the
name of a prominent citizen of Princeton.
fie minutes later, a special agent cir-
culating among the throngs in front of
the Cash home quietly picked up M. F.
Braxton, 55-year-old Princeton contractor,
for questioning. Braxton was sped to FBI
Headquarters. Later Pedro Braxton, son
of the contractor, was also questioned.
A rumor spread that a seizure had been
made and a crowd streamed to the FBI
building, thinking the case had been
solved. It was known around Princeton
that the Braxtons and J. B. Cash were not
friendly because of an argument over a
small debt, and a rumor was circulated
that it was Braxton who was seen slinking
away from the filling station just before
the third note was found.
As darkness settled over the little vil-
lage, the Braxtons were still being ques-
tioned and posse members were returnin
empty handed after a gruelling day. More
than seventy-five square miles had been
covered without a single clue being un-
earthed. Two discarded convict suits
found by one party were thought at first
to have some bearing on the case, but it
was soon discovered that they had been
left two months before. A corps of divers
explored the rock pits without success,
and Lieutenant Commander McDonald
found no trace of the missing boy from
the air, despite the fact that the naval
bombers had covered. approximately 750
square miles of territory,
Members of the posse instead of being
discouraged seemed to resent failure and
vowed renewed action the next day. New
appeals were sent out via radio for search-
ers. Major Robert R. Williams of Miami
released city employees to participate in
the search. American Legion posts in
Palm Beach, Ft, Lauderdale, and as far
north as Ft, Pierce, prepared truckloads
of men for the Thursday search and sent
them southward,
Rewards totaling $4,000 were offered
for information leading to the arrest and
conviction of the kidnapers.
At ten o’clock, Thursday morning, J.
Edgar Hoover accompanied by Assistant
Director Clyde Tolson arrived at the
Miami airport after a fast flight from
Washington, Their arrival created a new
sensation, and it was freely predicted that
a break was coming, Hoover, however, re-
fused to make any -comments and _ pro-
True Detective Mysteries
ceeded quietly to FBI Headquarters to
assume personal charge of the ease.
Sheriff Coleman and his twenty deput-
ies spent the day at Princeton going over
the kidnap route and questioning hun-
dreds of persons in an attempt to uncover
a clue. Meanwhile, the note that had been
delivered at the filling station was being
carefully examined by the FBI agents at
the Cash home. The agents sent word to
McCall to come there. When he arrived
he told how he had found the note which
had changed the plan of the pay-off,
Sometime after he left the Cash home,
following this questioning, Sheriff Coleman
Was requested to pick up McCall and take
him to the Miami office of the FBI. He
located McCall at his home which was a
few hundred yards away from where the
money had been paid and across the street
from the home of Asbury Cash. McCall]
—————_—_——
TO ALL STATE AND POLICE
OFFICIALS
The Line-Up Department
(pages 74-75) is for your use. ,
We want to -help you catch
your Public Enemies—send in
Photos and descriptions of
badly wanted criminals.
When we publish a Picture in
TRUE DETECTIVE 2,000,000
readers immediately become
your aides. So far, one out
of every five fugitives pub-
lished in the Line-Up has been
captured—more than 200 cap-
tured to date by TRUE DE-
TECTIVE and - its associate
magazine, MASTER DETEC-
TIVE!
was sitting on his front porch when Cole-
’ man arrived,
“I understand you are the young man
who found the ransom note under the fill-
ing station door,” said the Sheriff, intro-
ducing himself.
“¥es, I did,” replied McCall, smiling,
“but I’ve already told the G-men about it
and also about seeing some one in the
shadows.”
“Tell me about finding the note,” sug-
gested the Sheriff, dropping into a chair.
“Well, there isn’t much. to tell,” said
McCall. “We went to the station to get
three gallons of gas for my father-in-law’s
truck, Just as we drove up I saw some
one running away from the door around
the back of the station, I went back
there but did not see any one,”
“You told the G-men you thought it
was Braxton you saw, didn’t you?” quer-
ied Sheriff Coleman,
“Yes,” answered McCall, “but I wouldn’t
want to get any one in wrong. It was
pretty dark there you know.”
“Well, what about the note?” continued
Coleman,
“It was almost hidden by the bottom of
the door,” explained McCall. “I noticed
that the door stuck when Harry Wright
_ pushed it open and J just happened to
look down and saw it.”
“PI tell you what,” said the Sheriff,
“you come on and ride to Miami with me
and we'll get your statement down in black
and white. You can have dinner with
me and we'll send you home.”
K\., Sheriff.” aereed MeCall. “but
‘don’t say anything about mo telling the
G-men that I thought I saw Braxton at
the filling station—J wouldn’t want to get
in trouble.”
“No, I won't tell any one,” agreed Cole-
man, “I’m glad you want to help us solve
this case, though.”
“T sure do,” replied McCall as they en-
tered the ear, “but I don’t think you'll
ever catch the kidnapers; whoever pulled
this job was plenty smart.”
On the way to Miami the Sheriff casu-
ally asked McCall where he had been on
the night of the kidnaping and on the
night the ransom money was paid,
“I was around Princeton the night the
child was stolen,” answered the youth. “I
went out with Mr. Cash and the others
and helped to find the ransom note ut
Emanuel’s: shack.”
“Where were you on Monday night
when the ransom’ was paid?” queried the
Sheriff.
“IT hung around until after the first
contact had failed,” readily answered Mc-
Call, “and then I went over to my mother-
in-law’s house and got some sleep. It was
3:30 when I turned in.”
“Well, when we get to Miami you just
tell all of that to the Government. in-
Vestigators so they can get it in the re-
cord,” advised Coleman, “but first let's
go to a restaurant and get something to
eat.”
“Thanks, Sheriff,” said McCall, “I’m
not working and cating in a restaurant
will be a treat.”
After a hearty dinner, McCall was taken
to FBI Headquarters and: turned over to
the special agents,
McCall remained at FBI Headquarters
for nearly three hours, and shortly after
midnight was returned to Homestead.
McCall expressed a desire to go to Home-
stead instead of Princeton because he ex-
plained he had planned to spend the night
there with his friend “Shorty” Cash.
: ie the meantime, the big search for Skee-
gie had failed. Hundreds of weary
searchers plodded through a driving rain.
Thursday afternoon, without discovering
a single clue. At nightfall, a total of more
than 125 square miles of the roughest ter-
ritory in the whole state had been
thoroughly combed without a trace being
found of the missing boy. Leaders of the
posse believed that further efforts would be
fruitless and decided to abandon the
search except for a skeleton crew assigned
to probe rock pits and assist boat crews
in their search of canals and obscure
points along the Florida Keys.
Despite failure of the posse, the par-
. ents continued to hope that the boy would
eventually be restored to them alive and
unharmed,
Friday was crammed with sensations.
Willard Campbell, known as “the boy
wonder” of Miami’s boom days, was ques-
tioned by FBI agents. Soon a rumor was
circulated that a suspect had confessed kid-
naping and killing the boy and told of
throwing the body in a rock pit south of
Princeton. A radio appeal, which had
gone out for divers to “explore a rock pit.”
Iént credence to the report. According
to dispatches coming back to Miami.
newspapers in New York and Chicago
actually prepared to issue extras telling
of the purported confession.
While Campbell was being questioned
a flash was received from Princeton that
®& gunny sack apparently containing the
body of the missing boy had been fished
fronr a rock pit south of the city. FBI
agents rushed to the scene from Miami.
and Cash left his home for the first time
since the kidnaping to hurry to the spot
The divers refrained from opening the
sack until the FBI agents arrived, Cas!
able”
one «
rans<
prom
Mon
Cash
three
he he
perso)
light
Wi
the o:
the (
Frank
turn 1
cedur
Pedro
noon,
string:
with ;
Tu
out a
as the
Repo
cover
the sl
Just
operat
one 0!
photog
the};
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night,
have »
Jd; Con
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They
ested
110
of her husband there in the hall, she
turned crimson, her eyes flashing. Calling
the maid, Panchita, she put a piece of
money into her hand, telling her not .to
mention to anyone that she had been
there,”
Dojia Celia’s face had gone white as
parchment. Raising her head to look the
Commander in the eyes she said quietly:
“Tt is true. Rafael was here that after-
noon. Both he and I knew that Laura
and my husband were in love. We were
trying to decide what to do about it. I
had no idea Laura had been here, or that
she would imagine there was anything
wrong in his being here.”
De ALVAREZ stared at his wife in
silence, Iturralde demanded at length
that he dress and accompany them back
to Headquarters. Meanwhile detectives
were sent to bring in Dofia Laura. The
lovers faced each other in Tturralde’s
office. The girl’s face seemed to have
grown years older during the past few
hours, and she appeared on the point of
collapse. Jarrin placed a chair for her,
but she remained standing.
Don Alvarez. spoke first: “Don’t make
any statement, Laura, until we see our
attorneys.” :
The telephone rang before he had fin-
ished talking. Jarrin answered. When
he had hung up he faced the couple,
saying:
“Further denial is useless. Your mother-.
in-law, the Dofia Montenegro, has just
confessed to Detective Burbano that when
she arrived in answer to the maid Vic-
toria’s telephoned summons, you, Dofia
Laura, admitted to her that you had shot
her son out of jealousy. She tried to
True Detective Mysteries
protect you because of the family name,
but when she realized we had solved the
crime, she told Burbano what had hap-
pened.” ;
aie a weary nod Dofia Laura suddenly
said:
“It is true. I killed my husband. When
I saw his hat and coat in the Salazar’s
hall, I flew into a rage, thinking he had
gone to see Celia to make love to her.
Alvarez and I have loved each other for
a Jong time, but Rafael never seemed to
notice it. When Alvarez came to see me
that night after Rafael had gone out to
the gambling house, I told him about my
suspicions and made him promise to kill
afael,
“After my husband came home and I
had joined him, and Alvarez had been
shown in as if he had just arrived, we
got Rafael drunk. When he went up-
stairs to his bedroom, he didn’t pay any
attention to the faet that Alvarez was
following me upstairs, instead of leaving
the house. I came into my room, got the
gun, and handed it to Alvarez. Together
we stole along ‘the hall and Opened the
door to Rafael’s room. He was sitting
on the bed with his back toward us.
“I opened the door so softly he didn’t
hear it. Alvarez held the gun, but
wouldn’t shoot, Suddenly Rafael whirled
and saw us. Then I grabbed the gun and
fired. Rafael fell, grabbing the bedspread
as he slumped to the floor,
“I told Alvarez to wait and leave the
house through my room after the police
officer was called. He was in my dressing
room while Policeman Mancero was in
Rafael’s room, and then slipped out with-
out being seen. He must have stepped
accidently in the blood which spurted
from Rafael’s wounded head as he went, |
van over to the connecting doors between
Rafael’s room and my dressing-room as
if I had just thrown it open, laying the
gun down beside my husband's body as
I passed,
“I screamed for Victoria and when she
came running told her to call a police-
man, that the master had shot himesel!,
Of course I thought Rafael was dead, |
was terribly frightened when I saw his
eyes flutter, and was relieved when the
Medical Examiner pronounced him dead.
I said I believed he had been murdered
to throw suspicion away from myself.”
he girl’s voice trailed off into silence,
her body swayed. As she fainted, Jarrin
Sprang around the corner of the desk and
caught her, Don Alvarez stared at her
limp form, and continued to deny his
guilt, It was not until the following
morning that he finally added his con-
fession to hers and the two were charged
with Don Rafael’s murder. -
Their trial was set for July 7th, 1937,
and was the sensation of Quito. Fashion-
ably dressed crowds attended, everyone
speculating on the fate which awaited the
lovers, The prominence of both made
people think the jury would be lenient.
With tense faces nineteen-year-old Dofia
Laura and Don Alvarez watched the pro-
chedings. They were defended by two
of the ablest lawyers in the land, but in
spite of that they were found guilty,
The girl stared in blank amazement as
she was sentenced to eight years in prison.
which is almost the maximum sentence
in Ecuador, Don Alvarez Salazar was
given five years as her accomplice, As
they were led away, Dofia Celia looked
after them with tear-filled eyes,
Kidnaped! Florida’s Jimmy Cash Horror
the corner of a_ small orange grove.
Startled by the daring of the kidnapers
in selecting a spot three quarters of a mile
from the place where the child had been
stolen, he had to apply his emergency
brake to stop the car, He peered ahead
but saw nothing—the orange: grove was
dark. The father sat there alone realizing
that a shotgun blast might come at any
second and the money on the seat beside
him be grabbed by the kidnapers.
When no sound came he stepped out of
his car and walked in the full glare of the
headlights, and tossed the package con-
taining the $10,000 at the base of the tele-
phone pole, As he -drove off he prayed
that the abductors would lose no time in
retrieving the money and releasing the
boy.
ch accordance with the instructions of
the note, he continued over the full course
of the pay-off route before starting back
to Princeton, Faint streaks of dawn were
appearing when he finally arrived home.
A sigh of disappointment went up when
the neighbors saw that he did not have
Skeegie, but somehow his face was no
longer drawn and haggard.
“Tell us the good news, Jim,” they
begged as he climbed out of his car,
“The ransom has been paid,” he said
with a lighter voice than he had used in
two days. “Skeegie will be home in two
hours.”
He could not walk fast enough to get
into the house to relay the news to Vera
—he simply ran,
“It looks good,” he told the pale mother,
“I paid the money and Skeegie will be
home almost any time. I expect them to
telephone and tell me where to get him.”
“Thank God,” whispered Vera through
A Arietta naaeeeeeatte einen iss ses eA mrmisn ~~ + anes sane aie
(Continued from page 19)
her tears as Jim put his arm around her
and urged her to rest until the call came.
He then turned to a grim-visaged circle
of armed men, who sat in the darkness of
the living-room. To them he recited all
details of the pay-off, They listened care-
fully, noting location of the orange grove,
telephone pole and strect intersection and
then, assuring him that the FBI would
not act until Skeegie was safe, went away.
Fifteen minutes passed, Jim Cash paced
the floor never more than a few paces
away from the telephone, A half hour,
an hour and then two hours passed and
still the telephone was mute. Why didn’t
the kidnapers keep their word?’ Hadn’t
they found the ransom money? These and
a hundred other questions traced through
his mind, Suddenly there was a stir out-
side. He looked’ out of the window.
hoping it might be Skeegie.
“Extra, extra: Princeton boy kid-
naped,” shouted a newsboy.
The story had broken wide open. Five
minutes later the broadcasting stations
likewise went into action. Newspaper
editors, learning’ that the kidnapers had
failed to return the boy, refused to keep
the story suppressed any longer. Radio
announcers, discovering the newspapers
had sprung the story, followed suit.
Press and radio vied in giving details
to the public. Description of the missing
boy, compiled by the FBI,.was given out
and thousands of circulars with photo-
graphs were held in readiness for distribu-
tion, The FBI described the missing lad
as follows:
‘ Age: 5 years 9 months, Born Au-
gust 2, 1932,
Weight: 43 pounds.
Height: 3 feet 7 inches. (Note:
This height was obtained from a mark
placed on a wall within the Past sev-
eral weeks by the father in measuring
the actual height of the boy.)
Hair: light blond.
Eyes: blue.
Build: thin.
Teeth: full set—lower left baby
tooth missing, permanent tooth half
grown in.
Scars: half-inch diagonal scar on
back of head, center—result of burn,
Presently covered by hair—only no-
ticeable when hair clipped; wart on
one hand, the parents are not sure
which hand—Mrs. Cash advised that
this wart is of approximate size of the
nail on her small finger.
Peculiarities: sucks thumb contin-
ually.
Education: attended kindergarten
Past winter; parents advised child is
very bright for age.
Clothing: at time of abduction was
wearing one-piece white and rose-
colored pajamas with Perpendicular
stripe.
From the very beginning it was the fea
of the majority that the boy would never
be returned alive. Both parents, however,
clung to a dwindling hope that he would
be found safe and unharmed. Despite thi
fact that the case had broken in the news-
papers, Cash pleaded with the FBI and
Sheriff’s office to keep hands-off for an-
other twenty-four hours to give the kid-
napers a chance to deliver his son, He
argued that the first contact having failed
it might be possible that the coming of
daylight had deterred them. = Unde
cover of darkness they might yet keep
their
and nn
were (
harme:
child. |
that 1}
sincere,
other ;
Indig
Freque:
was m:
word f{
friends
selves tc
confined
vicinity
haphaza:
Plans
search |
Fritz Go
assumed
posse an:
7:30 o’cl
tended bh
Gordon,
“ E .
ho:
the kidna
There is
be return:
must be |}
not return:
man in S<«
o’clock to:
“Wear |
clothing.
searched
wildest in
of it is
thickets, wu
of it is ro
borders or
are swamp:
danger fro:
for weaklin
and this w:
“Do not
to hunt for
catch them
Skeegie Ca:
ductors hav:
spot and he
cannot sur
quitoes, the
dangers to
if he has }
cover the |:
the shortest
child may by
will be carei
party will h:
familiar wit}
want to say
listening—th;
nine o’clock
have until +
Cash to his
go to your h
radios. You
is returned d
Many of t/
Tuesday nigh
—hundreds e).
ing in cars or
station to dis:
without a sin:
Wednesday
tions cancelle:
turned their ;
manders of thy
Guardsmen, }
Veterans of |
dozen civic or
of making app:
posse being fo:
tor Connelley .
and Mr. Gord
more than 100
around Princet
jacent waters,
TA Sg 5 RRR AN Bn AN ade
~ about me telling the
wht T saw Braxton at
1 wouldn't want to gel
any one,” agreed Cole-,
ny want to help us solve
ied MeCall as they cn-
I don’t think you'll
napers; whoever pulled
ry smart.”
\liami the Sheriff casu-
| where he had been on
kidnaping and on the
money was paid,
Princeton the night the
answered the youth, “J
tr. Cash and the others
nd the ransom note at
you on Monday night
was paid?” queried the
ad until after the first
4.” veadily answered Mc-
went over to my mother-
d got some sleep. It was
ned in.”
e get to Miami you just
to the Government in-
vey can get it in the re-
Coleman, “but first let's
nt and get something to
riff.” said McCall, “D’m
id eating in a restaurant
- dinner, McCall was taken
irters and turned over to
its.
ined at FBI Headquarters
e hours, and shortly after
returned to Homestead.
oad a desire to go to Home-
: Princeton because he ex-
planned to spend the night
‘riend “Shorty” Cash.
me, the big search for Skee-
iled. Hundreds of weary
iod through a driving rain.
moon, without discovering
\t nightfall, a total of more
© miles of the roughest ter-
whole state had been
bed without a trace being
nissing boy. Leaders of the
that further efforts would be
decided to abandon the
for a skeleton crew assigned
pits and assist boat crews
ch of canals and obscure
he Florida Keys.
ure of the posse, the par-
i to hope that the boy would
restored to them alive and
- crammed with sensations.
ipbell, known as “the boy
liami’s boom days, was ques-
;L agents. Soon a rumor was
t a suspect had confessed kid-
silling the boy and told of
body in a rock pit south of
\ radio appeal, which had
livers to “explore a rock pit.”
to the report, According
= coming back to Miami.
n New York and Chicago
sared to issue extras telling
ted confession,
apbell was being questioned.
received from Princeton that
k apparently containing the
missing boy had been fished
pit south of the city, FBI
d to the seene from Miami.
ft his home for the first time
inaping to hurry to the spot
refrained from opening the
he FBT agents arrived, Cash
stood stoieally by while the sack was
opened and found to contain the carcass
of a dog. He returned to his home with-
out making a statement.
Final hope that his boy would ever be
found alive was abandoned at noon Sat-
urday, a full week after the abduction.
Standing on the porch of his home, the
distressed father said: ;
“T have given up all hope that our
boy will be found alive. Once the kid-
napers are caught we will be able to find
cut what happened to my son. I have
tnlked the case over with Mr. Hoover
and I am convinced it will be solved. I
rested some last night and Mrs. Cash is
feeling a little better.”
He posed a moment for photographers
and then wearily returned to the house
where his wife was under the care of a
physician and a nurse,
At ten o’clock Saturday night, it) wis
apparent that the case was ata standstill.
Sheriff Coleman picked up Franklin Me-
Call for further questioning. His second
appearance at FBI Headquarters passed
without comment among the spectators.
The home of John Emanuel, where the
second ransom note was found. A
deputy sheriff stands on the porch
where the kidnaper left the note
Walter Winchell, in his regular Sunday
night broadcast from New York, declared
that he had learned from a most “reli-
able” source that the father had identified
one of the three men to whom he paid the
ransom money. This statement was .
promptly denied by .J. Edgar Hoover,
Monday morning. As.a matter of fact
Cash never told anyone that there were
three men to collect. the ransom, or that
he had seen or identified the one man or
bare. who signaled him with the flash-
light.
With the beginning of the new week,
the only persons still being questioned by
the G-men were the two Braxtons and
Franklin, McCall. The case took another
turn which indicated a long drawn oul pro-
cedure when both Braxton and his son
Pedro were exonerated and released at
noon, Monday, and special linemen started
stringing wires to connect the Miami office
with a field bureau set up at Princeton,
Tuesday and Wednesday passed with-
out a single incident. Activities, so far
as the public knew, were at a standstill.
Reporters and photographers assigned to
cover Hoover lolled around the lobby of
the skyscraper office building.
Just how well the G-men veiled their
operations is attested by the fact that not
one of the fifty or more reporters and
photographers saw a strange exodus from
the buck entrance ‘of the FBI building
shortly before ten o’clock Wednesday
night. Had they been alert they would
have seen J. Edgar Hoover, Inspector i.
J. Connelley and a squad of special agents
emerge and walk to a waiting automobile.
They would have been especially inter-
ested in the young man_ securely hand-
True Detective Mysteries
cuffed to an agent, and would ‘have blinked
to see J, Edgar Hoover garbed in an old
khaki shirt and old pair of trousers.
Another delegation followed _ the first.
Hoover's assistant, Clyde Tolson, and
two special agents accompanied Dr.
Thomas Otto, a famous surgeon in the
South, to a second automobile. As Tolson
and his party took their seats, Arthur Rut-
zen, and other special agents trooped out
and made for a third car. They carried
shovels and axes.
Without being seen the cars streaked
away from the curb, The ride was swift.
Twenty-five minutes later the motorcade
passed through Princeton and turned
south on Tallahassee Road. For the next
half hour the three cars darted along un-
used roads, stopping occasionally and
then going on, At last they turned into a
lane which by no stretch of the imagina-
lion could be called a road, A tall pine,
100 vards in front of them, was silhouet-
ted in the moonlight like a sentinel. There
on the very edge of the Everglades, the
procession came to a stop and the men
piled out, For several minutes. they
floundered around through the thick pal-
mettos as flashlights bobbed in all direc-
tions.
J. Edgar Hoover stood beside his auto-"
mobile with an agent and a young man
shackled to the latter’s wrist. An odor of
death permeated the air. Hoover spoke
quictly to the agent. y m
“Unlock him and handcuff him to me.”
Only a click of metal broke the silence
as the transfer was made. Hoover moved
into the darkness with the youth. For
thirty or forty feet he pushed his way
through the dense underbrush before
coming to a halt.
“Now we are alone,” he said softly.
“Toll me where it is. With these lights
flashing we are bound to attract attention
sooner or Jater and half the town will be
down here in five minutes. Tell me where
it is ped let’s get back to Miami where it
is safer.”
“ ALL right, ll tell,” came the answer
in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Tt’s at the base of that tall pine.”
Hoover returned to the searching group
and silently beckoned them to follow him
as he pushed his way through the prickly
palmetto to the tall pine. He stopped and
looked down. There at his feet .. .
Back in Miami the reporters still lolled
around the lobby of the FBI building.
Tt was nearly 1:30 a.m.—another day
born, .What would it bring? Suddenly
some one addressed them—it was an FBI
man.
“Mr, Hoover has called a press con-
ference.”
Swift elevators carried the news-hawks
to the thirtcenth floor, from which they
had been barred for many days.
Director Hoover still wore the khaki
shirt and trousers when he received the
reporters in his private office. His rugged
face was pale showing the effects of more
than forty-eight hours of continuous
duty. He waited for the last man to
be seated and then ordered the doors
closed.
“Tt is understood,” he said in his erisp
fashion, “that no one is to leave until
the conference is over. It is also under-
stood that no telephones in this office are
to be used.”
He waited while the reporters nodded
silent assent,
“We have been able ,to. recover the
body of the little Cash boy. We have
recovered the ransom money, and }rank-
lin Pieree McCall has confessed that he
wrote the notes and collected the money.”
The reporters hurled questions at the
head G-man.
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| de -d to do
| the trial pro-
evidence, and
d and made a
. of the crime
according to
there was no
the defend-
or duress; he
d, for the third
ete confession
1 how he ab-
iley Cash, Jr.,
zd him in get-
also under in-
first degree,
:som money.
that he was
in that he did
choice. The
the right of
of preparing
hat he has a
cant voluntar-
te crime and
is no defense
.se, the reason
celr at the
. & iat his
‘In... of the
jerendant was
:Tienced coun-
inted to noth-
=: tor him that
tendant was
‘> or trial by
[Ith and four-
-teral Consti-
cuaranteed by
on or Rights,
s sumecient to
-¥ waived his
zleezed to be
rocedure was
) and 8401,
2;, which are
vith Chapter
“38 settled in
ized by stat-
.l case accept
sore, the de-
trial by jury.
1 court may
‘etermine the
te to be ad-
ej 2 evi-
J
~os/
RIESNER v. RIESNER Fla. 669
186 So. 669
dence to warrant commutation of the de-
fendant. This procedure has been re-
peatedly upheld by the Supreme Court of
the United States and by the State Courts.
Hallinger v. Davis, 146 U.S. 314, 13 on
103, 36 L.Ed. 986, and cases there cited;
Patton v. United States, 281 U.S. 276, 50
S.Ct. 253, 74 L.Ed. 854, 70 A.L.R. 263;
McCall v. State, 185 So. 608, decided by
this Court January 3, 1939; Green v.
Commonwealth, 12 Allen, Mass., 155.
We have not overlooked the weight of
defendant’s contention that he did not
have the advice of counsel of his choice
and‘that he now repudiates his plea of
guilty and says that it was proferred un-
der duress. The record in no respect sup-
ports this contention. As to the former,
it is shown that he was ably represented
in both the Circuit and the Supreme Court
and as to the latter contention, it was not
presented until after his conviction was
affirmed and execution was impending. If
one charged with crime may be given
another chance. under. such a_ pretext,
every conviction will come to naught. No
It seems to me that defendant’s con-
tention in both instances is without merit.
He has- had all done for him by counsel
that could have been done and he volun-
tarily elected to be tried by the court rath-
er than the jury. He had a right to do
this and having repeatedly confessed the
crime and entered a plea of guilty, the only
theory on which he elected to be tried by
the court was in the hope of life imprison-
ment instead of the extreme penalty. He
failed of what he expected and now seeks
another chance. A stay order should not
be granted for this purpose and 1 find no
other basis to warrant it.
It is accordingly denied.
o & KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
AYmEe
’ RIESNER v. RIESNER.
objection was raised to counsel appointed ©
by the court and the counsel of his choice
was present at the trial and both did their
tull duty.
I have not discussed the proposition of
whether or not these federal questions
were properly before me though it has not
been overlooked. I would be the last to
deprive defendant of a fundamental right
so I have assumed that they were timely
raised. I am not unmindful of the zeal
of friends and counsel in his behalf: net-
ther should it be overlooked that the crime
for which he was convicted is the worst
species of avarice that ever held captive
the human concepts. He not only wrecked
his own home but created for all time a
yacant chair in that of another for which
no man can compensate.
[5,6] I think that an application fora
stay order in a capital case should be more
liberally construed than one in a civil
caS@e In Williams et al. v. Keys et al,
supra, it was held that if the probability
of review by the Supreme Court of the
United States was so much as fifty-fifty,
the stay order should be granted. In a
capital case like that under review, I would
say that the stay order should be granted
if there was ground for reasonable men to
differ as to whether or not the writ of
certiorari would be granted.
Supreme Court of Florida, Division B.
Jan. 20, 1939.
Rehearing Denied Feb. 14, 1939.
{. Appeal and error €= 1009(1)
Where evidence is heard by chancellor
aud witnesses are before him, chancellor’s
fact findings are entitled to more weight in
an appellate court than where testimony
was not taken before chancellor.
2. Appeal and error C>1009(1)
Chancellor's findings of fact shonld not
be disturbed unless shown to be clearly er-
roneous.
3. Divorce C=368
840 per week to wife for support of in-
fant son was insuificient and was increased
to 850, where assets of husband who was
granted divorce approximated $30,000 and
annual income was about $5,700.
4. Divorce C=227(1)
In divorce action, wife’s counsel were
allowed $1.300 for services where several
days were consumed in taking testimony, two
or three trips were made to Cleveland, Ohio,
where testimony was taken, and large tran-
script was brought to Supreme Court with
well-prepared briefs.
FRANKLIN PIERCE MCCALL, JRe (Florida)
"As some 2,500 men last fortnight swarmed over lower Florida in
search of the kidnapped James B, Cash, Jr., Federal Agents directed
them to scour 80 square miles of Subtropical swampland. But the G-nmen
carefully excluded the zealous searchers from a half-mile radius
surrounding the spot where the boy's father had paid $10,000 ransom,
Last week Foderal officers announced that they had arrested the kide-
napper, found the boy's body, and mecovered the ransom money = all
within the same limited area,
"Out of aconfession signed by Franklin Pe McCall, 2l-year-old
Son of a Nazarene preacher, the officers reconstructed the tale:
"McCall had removed ttie 5-yeur-old boy from a bedroom over the
zeneral store at Princeton, Flae, where Cash, Sre, and Mrse Cash
wera coynting the day's receiptse Fold@d handkerchiefs placed over
the boy s mouth to stifle his cries also Snuffed out his life; when
McCall fearned that the youngster was dead, he to@sed the body into
A palmetto clump a few hunred yards from his own cottage, and planted
the first of a series of ransgm notese
"MCCall ostentatiously joined the posse men = and at once aroused
officers" suspicions by his bloodthirsty threats of what be would do
to the kidnapper, Later he 'found' a new ransom note that he said had
been slipped under the door of the home of tle boy's uncle, We Be Cashe
lsecause the note was sweat-sodden and so wadded that it couldn't have
passed beneath the door, officers became convinced of McCall's guilte
"The same day the elder Cash paid the ransom, Dade County Sheriff
De C, Coleman seized McCalle Then Gemen questioned bim, released him,
kept him under careful Surveillance, and later rearrested hime At
first McCall steadfastly maintained that he himself had had nothing
to do with the actural kidnapping but had merely served as a go-between
for two accomplices. Prolonged questioning finally wrung the whoae
wBxX Story from him. Lwecause the body was found withing the forbidden
area, wany local residents surm&sSed that ‘even before the search began
Gemen knew where it lay, but refrained from moving it in the hope thaat
McCall might return to bury it."
NEWSWEEK June 20, 1938 Page 1l.
-
Ki vat
” ve
Piag y
. ;
»onn ,
ayo
4 ad!
668 Fla.
Taignment and in preparation for his trial,
contrary to the fifth, sixth, and the due
process clause of the fourteenth amend-
ments to the Constitution of the United
States, U.S.C.A. Powell v. Alabama, 287
U.S. 45, 53 S.Ct. 55, 77 L.Ed. 158, 84 A.L,
R. 527; Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458,
58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461; Downer v.
Dunaway, 5 Cir., 53 F.2d 586, are relied
on to support this contention.
The pointed question decided in these
cases was that in a capital case where
defendant is unable to employ counsel and
is incapable of adequately making his own
defense because of ignorance, feeblemind-
edness, illiteracy, or for other Cause, it is
the duty of the Court, whether requested
or not, to assign counsel for him as a nec-
essary requisite of due process of law and
that that duty is not discharged by an as-
signment at such a time or under such
circumstances as to preclude ‘the giving
of effective aid in the preparation and-trial
ot the case.
In the cited cases, it was held that this
rule was ignored and the defendants were
thereby denied fundamental rights guar-
anteed them by the Federal Constitution
but it was shown that defendants entered
a plea of not guilty and were denied the
right of counsel at all times during the
trial. They were unlettered, in a strange
county, away from friends, and in the
Powell and Downer cases, defendants were
under the care of the State troops at every
step in the trial and before it to prevent
mob violence.
In the case at bar, the facts were very
ditferent and the facts provoke the law un-
der our system of jurisprudence. Counsel
should not overlook this. It is true that
defendant did not have the benefit of coun-
sel before arraignment but able counsel
was immediately thereafter appointed to
represcnt him and he was in fact repre-
scnted at the triaL The crime with which
he was charged was committed on May 28,
1938; he was arrested June 5th by the
Iederal Bureau of Investigation, made
a full confession, was indicted on June
14th, arraigned and plead guilty the same
day and his trial was set for the following
day. At the hour set for his trial, the
State and the defendant announced ready
for trial, no further time was asked for
preparation though the court inquired
of defendant’s counsel if he had any mo-
tions to offer. He could have changed his
plea and could have asked for more indul-
186 SOUTHERN REPORTER
gence at this time but he declined to do
so. Offering no motion, the trial pro-
ceeded, the State put on its evidence. and
the defendant took the stand and made a
full and complete confession of the crime
for which he was charged.
The trial was conducted according to
every legal requirement; there was no
suggestion of mob violence; the defend-
ant was at no time in fear or duress: he
voluntarily took the stand and for the third
time, made a full and complete confession
reciting in meticulous detail how he ab-
ducted his victim, James Bailey Cash, Jr.,
how he asphyxiated and killed him in get-
ting away, for which he is also under in-
dictment for murder in the first degree,
and how he received the ransom money.
[1,2] He now contends <hat he was
denied the advice of counsel in that he did
not have the counsel of his choice. : The
tundamental guaranty of the ‘right of
counsel is for the purpose of preparing
one’s defense and to see that he has a
legal trial. When the defendant voluntar-
ily confesses committing the crime and
enters a plea of guilty, there is no defense
to prepare for. In such a case. the reason
tor counsel is reduced to seeing that the
defendant is properly advised and that his
rights are protected in the conduct of the
trial. It is shown here that defendant was
represented by able and experienced coun-
sel at his trial and we are pointed to noth-
ing that could have been done jor him that
Was not done.
It is next contended that defendant was
denied the fundamental right of trial by
jury guaranteed him by the fifth and tour-
teenth amendments to the Federal Consti-
tution. That right is also guaranteed by
Sections 3 and 11, Declaration of Rights,
Constitution of Florida.
[3,4] On this point, it is sufficient to
say that defendant voluntarily waived hig
right of trial by jury and eleczed to be
tried by the Court. Such procedure was
authorized by Sections 8400 and 8401,
Compiled General Laws of 1927, which are
to ve read in connection with Chapter
16063, Acts of 1933. The law is settied in
this country that when authorized by stat-
ute, the Court may in a capital case accept
a plea of guilty and when done, the de-
fendant waives his right of trial by jury.
When this is done, the trial court may
examine the evidence and determine the
punishment within the statute to be ad-
ministered. He found nothing in the evi-
view of the author-
to whether or not
ned on these insur-
ne of the attorneys
t this assignment of
latever amount may
decree of the court
. and the cause re-
that no further ac-
be taken to litigate
ate the alleged lia-
ader the policies of
ng as the restrain-
Civil District Court
ans, Louisiana, re-
tect. The plea in
appellant was well
>rs should likewise
2d.
McCALL v. STATE Fla. 667
1386 7
So.
McCALL v. STATE.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Feb. 15, 19289.
1. Criminal law C=641(1)
The fundamental guaranty of right of
an accused to have counsel is for purpose
of preparing accused’s defense and to see
that he has a legal trial U.S.C.A.Const.
Amends. 5, 6, 14.
2. Constitutional law €—263
Criminal law €=264
One, who was convicted of kidnapping
for ransom and sentenced to death, was not
entitled to stay of execution so as to per-
mit application to the United States Su-
preme Court for writ of certiorari, on ground
that he had been denied right of counsel be-
fore arraignment and in preparation for
trial, where, though he did not have bene-
fit of counsel before arraignment, he was
represented by able counsel immediately
. thereafter appointed: to represent him, and
he voluntarily confessed and entered plea of
guilty, so that preparation of no defense was
required. 28 U.S.C.A. § 350; Acts 1933, ¢.
16063; U.S.C.A.Const. Amends. 5, 6, 14.
3. Constitutional law €=267
Jury ©=29(2)
One, who was convicted of kidnapping
for ransom and sentenced to death, was not
entitled to stay of execution so as to permit
application to the United States Supreme
Court for writ of certiorari, on ground that
he was denied right of trial by jury, where
he voluntarily elected to be tried by the
court as authorized by statute. 98 U.S.C.A.
§ 350; Acts 1933, ¢. 16063; U.S.C.A.Const.
Amends. 5, 14; Const.Fla.Declaration of
Rights, g§ 3, 11.
4. Criminal law €=273
Jury C=29(4)
When authorized by statute, court may,
in a capital ease, aecept plea of guilty, and.
when that is done, defendant waives his
Tight of trial by jury.
5. Criminal law G100!
An application for a stay order in a
eapital case should be more liberally con-
strued than one in a civil case.
6. Criminal law G=!001
In a capital ease, a stay order should be
granted, to permit application to the Unit-
ed States Supreme Court for writ of certio-
rari, if there is ground for reasonable men
to differ as to whether writ of certiorari
would be granted. 28 U.S.C.A. 3 300.
—————— Oe
Franklin Pierce McCall was convicted
of kidnapping for ransom, and the death
penalty was imposed. On application for
a stay order to withhold execution of final
judgment for such time as was essential
to permit him to apply to the Supreme
Court of the United States for writ of cer-
tiorari.
Stay order denied.
C. A. Avriett and E. C. Rutledge, both of
Jasper, for plaintiff in error.
George Couper Gibbs, Atty. Gen., Law-
rence A. Truett and Tyrus A. Norwood,
Asst. Attys. Gen., and G. A. Worley, State
Atty., of Miami, for the State.
TERRELL, Chief Justice.
This is an application by the plaintiff.
in error, Franklin Pierce McCall, for a .-
stay order pursuant to Section. 350, Title .
28 °U.S.C.A. to withhold the execution of
the final judgment herein for such time
as is essential to permit him to apply to
the Supreme Court of the United States
for writ of certiorari. The judgment was
entered January 3, 1939, Fla., 185 So. 608,
and petitions for rehearing were denied
February 10, 1939, Fia., 186 So. 510. It
afirmed a conviction for kidnapping for
ransom in violation of Chapter 16063, Acts
of 1933, for which the death penalty was
imposed. The essential tacts are stated in
the opinions filed on the dates stated above.
In Williams et al. v. Keys et al. Fla.,
186 So. 230, filed January 28, 1939, the
circumstances warranting the granting of
a stay order were considered and it was
there heid that such an order should not
be granted unless it was mace to appear
(1) that the case is one that would likely
be taken up on certiorari and (2) that the
balance of convenience requires a suspcn-
sion of the decree anda withholding of the
mandate. It was further held that the
necessary prerequisite for such a review
is the exemplification of a federal ques-
tion that was affirmatively presented, that
its decision was necessary to the deter-
mination of the cause, that it was actuaily
decided or that the judgment as rendered
could not have been so without deciding It.
The defendant attempts to bring himself
within this rule by proclaiming that he was
denied the right of counsel before ar-
McCOY, Will, black, hanged at Palatka, Florida, on Dec, 1, 1911,
. Te murders: went ont and off to2
£
wl
&
pee. foes oid. ox will drink now
oc i «1D &id vou”
Yo tos nw testbed thal woman
vurnmy 2 ip Cistance swaxs where he
os Coun xd wen to sleep A tele-
oboe mmemage wes weal to Sheriff Keo.
‘merta¢ afiace. and be im tare potified
Leegatts Sherif dimer of Crescent City
iw pe wher the murderer. A crowd of
Tote wt the mill houcver, thimking Mc-
ty maght pet ewes. socured him 20d
Sed? Biee amtil the arrival of the d .
wberst. whe teok him to Crescent City
a0 awn the arrival od the offscer from
Pakatica.
Deegarts Shersti P. ML Hayas and jastice
eae L. Marithall 10uk the nove irsia for
‘the scxcut of the crime, where 22 inquest
* tea 0 Aer the ingeest Deputy
Hieaget secured the prisoecr, brongh!i
Daw ww Faietks and lodged him in jail
tht will t¢ givew a predmmimary bear.
ig tameres shiteremoon McCoy ad-
mur the Gilling. but 4933 be nas “onl
‘gui *
Tit murdered women 4 one of the
tet w be muke 2 peractoe of going from
Meloy eur aide bodied voung negro
Sem Liet OP were of REO.
/. alr T few, Floste blot a
pes 28, /7//
(/-3-)
2S 4eGr0
= one ; enum a cea
a ccreerenessetaare? NT a OLE AE
eomaenene ree
~ oy
‘Two MURDERERS
THe OR DEATH TRAP
ills Gives Edgar You-
~~ and Will McCoy
! Death Sentence. |
Gets |
h, Palatka Murderer,
=n ‘na Sentence.
{the Circuit Court
vi which adjourned on
five Indictments
murder in the
At the fall te
for Putnam peas
Tuesday of this wees,
were returned charging
Mags f two of these cases
i j a sb week.
in this paper las
s al ? s
it will be remembered wa
One of them it will ) Se oun)
that of Sheriff Smith of \ olusia county
7 486 e
Chia ged With The Wruraucr e7t vig — :
Caskill, Smith getting change of venuc
The other was the
Alachua county. rhe oO dane
ng or the negro William Rhodes, “ ho |
wie {gund guilly 3s indicted and meson |
piesa: to the mercy” of the com ‘.
Rhodes was given a life sen
‘hard labor. =
Mi ursday afternoon and I ri ay f
iing two other murder ee Edgar aa
d of. ney we J suet
porte and Will McCoy. Both ha ee
were found guilty of murder in Lien
ce without recommenda”
ai received the death sentence. Rea
it is more than likely that the igo .
in each case will be carric Peon 7
neither has any ground on Ww
base an ap}
day morn:
dis-
“. . t
the Supreme Court, :
ee hich cach of these
H » ed
vilty-and sentencee
: eeht’s lumber camp
iles south of Crescent Cily
1 months apart. One of
and one a woman
tis likely that both willbe laznched
into eternity at the same time and from
the same trap. This is the plan of
Sheritf Kennerly and which he will
for their execution by Gov. Gilchrist.
are industrious, 1a w abiding pcople.
“Zeke” is a degenerate.
His indictment was the first one re-
turned bythe last grand jury. When
this case was called on Tuesday Zeke’s
attorney entered a plea of guilty of mur-
der in the second degree. ‘This pica
was accepted by the states attorncy and
Zeke was thereupon sentenced by. the
couat to. state prison for life.
The State hada perfect case against
McIntosh, though the evidence was
largely circumstantial. The sheriff's
office has handled this case admirably
from the start, and is entitled to great
credit for some very.clever detective
work. ;
Zeke Mclatosh spent the evening with
his victim. He had worked all that day
at Hunter, 10 miles west of the city, and
after he had inflicted the death wounds
on the woman he returned on a bicycle
to Hunter and his companions in camp ;
were sure that he was sl@cping in bed
that night. He was (or apart of the night.
But there were tell-tale blood clots on
his clothes, and later the Sheriff) was
able to secure witnesses who saw and
recognized the man the night of the
murder on upper Lemon street.
Before adjourning the court also dis-
carry out unlessa different plan is made |
posed of anumber of cases brought on
information, charging the sale of liquor}
in a dry County.
qos -2- «noms inxs ce ee _
On Tuesday Fzckiel McIntosh, the |
young Palatka negro who murdered his .
paramour, Lillie Rivers, in her room at.
Eliza Carroll’s boarding house on Lem- ,
on street last February, was brought to!
trial. McIntosh’s people live here and
'MURDERERS WILL _
| DIE DECEMBER 1ST
me Smee: we arenes
Edgar Youmans and Will Mc-
Coy Heard Death War-
rants Yesterday. —
Kdyar Youmans, colored, shot and
killed Walter Polite at) Wainwright's
mill, three miles south of Crescent City, |
on March 10th, last. He was tried and
convicted at the fall term of the Circuit
court for Putuam county, Oct. .3th, and
was sentenced to be hung.
Will McCoy, also colored, shot and
killed Arnita. Faison at Wainwright's
mill on July 23d last. “McCoy was tried
and convicted the same day that You
mans was, viz, Oct. I3th, last, and like
Youmans, was also sentenced to be
hung.
Since the day of their sentence both
Youmans and McCoy have been con.
fined in the county jail awaiting the ar-
rival of the death warrants from .Goy.
Gilchrist.
' These significant documents were re-
ceived by Sheriff Kennerly late on.
Wednesday, and yesterday morning |
were read to the coudemned men, |
When Sheriff Kennerly went to the |
jail to read the warrants to the con:
demned men he was accompanied by:
several. cilizens. Enterfng the jail the |
sheriff summoned Youmans and McCoy |
to the front of the cage, where he no-
tified them that the Governor had fixed |
upon Friday, Dec. Ist, as theJday of their !
execution, and then read the warrants, |
During. the reading the condemned |
men were visibly affected, and at times |
seemed: about to collapse. Tears}
Streamed down their faces... ;
|
ha Coie eae 7
Sheriff Kennerly told the condemnc
pg her he would provide es ae with!
anything they wanted to om uring |
their two remaining weeks of li c, an 4
that he would grant any other reasow
» requests. :
Once stated that he would we to
see his mother who lives in Nort a .
olina, and asked the sheriff to write to.
O Koth men made request that their
i be takeni. !
Pi hey also asked that a minister be |
hem. , rn
ea cxpauiive death warrant ‘has wi
style. It is partly printed and part y
written and surrounded by 2 black bs |
gold border. Across the top of the dac-
ument coming out through perforations
at cither side is a string of black jig oe
which extends downward across ah 7
face ‘of the warrant to the great go .
seal of the — of Florida, under which
it is fastened.
7 tee ae and McC8Y “death war-
rants were signed . on Nov. 13th. They
command Sheriff R. L. Kennerly to
execute the death sentence on both men
‘riday, December Ist.
ony ne Seecution is to take place be-
tween the hours of 10 a, m.,and 12 noon.
The sheriff isto he accompanied by
two deputics, and he is requested to “i
vite the states attorney, the clerk of the
court and 12 respectable: citizens, — in-
cluding a physician or surgcon, besides
the counsel of the condemned anda
minister. ;
During theirtwo wecks of life the
condemned raurderers will be allowed
the services of a spiritual advisor.
YOUMANS THOUGHT
~~ DEVIL HAD HIM.
Condemned Men Have One
More Week of Life.
Youmans Struggles in Prayer for Re-
ligion—McCoy Has Been Church
Member for Years.
' Edgar Youmans wnd Will/McCoy, the
last term of the Circuit Court and sen-
tenced to be hanged, and whose execu-
tion has been fixed by Gov. Gilchrist
for Friday, December Ist, are nervous.
Under the circumstances this is not
strange.
Yesterday the work of building the
scaffold was begun by Mr. Studstill. |
This work is going on in the jail yard |
only a few fect removed from the cage |
in which the murderers are located, and
where the sounds of the hammer and
saw come in to them through the open
windows.
Will McCoy has taken his death sen-
‘tence more philosophically than men in
his condition are wont todo. He real-
izes that there is no hope fora commu-
tatioa of the sentence—nor its delay.
He realizes fully that he must die on the
scaffold next weck Friday—that he has
but a few days more to live, and yet he
is holding up bravely. He was a pol-
troon, a coward, when he shot the wo-
man for whose death he is to hang,
But he is a braver man than many ‘could
be in the face of certain impending
death for himself.
Of course he is nervous and is giving
much thought to spiritual matters—as he
understands them.. McCoy says he has
been a religious man for many years,
and achurch member. He is .a Metho-
dist, thougty he evidently wasn’t work-
ing at it much during his life at Wain-.
‘wright’s Mill, where the murder was.
committed. He is working at it more
now.
Youmans never claimed ‘to be relig-
ious. ‘He has Baptist lcanings, and ever
since the death warrant was read to him
on the 16th inst. has been making stren-
uous efforts to get himself in a frame of
mind to submit to the rite of baptism.
He is devoting much time to prayer, and
for several days has been eating’ but lit-
'tlé. When questioned as to his loss of
appetite Youmans stated that it was be-
cause he felt that. by fasting and prayer
} he could more easily get religion. .
Tuesday night there was a great racket
in the jail and Youmans did some tall
yelling, so much so that Deputy Sheriff
Pete Hagan had to go in and restore
order,
Wednesday morning Youmans called
Mr. Hagan to him and apologized. He
said that he had been making a terrible
struggle to get religion and no doubt
was much to blame for the racket in the
jail of the past few days, but he thought
he had religion now, and from now on
he would give no more trouble.
“‘Last night,” said he “I! wasa prayin’
hard and was down on my knees when
all to onct something. got me by the leg.
“Last night,” said he ‘I was a prayin’
hard and was down on my knees when
all to onct something got me by the leg.
I thought it was old satan sure and I be-
gan to holler.”’ : a
It seems that one of the men in jail
for a minor offense had slipped up
quictly behind Youmans when he was
praying and had grabbed and jerked his
foot.
These men were being kept awake by
Youmans and were anxious to get him to
cease his loud praying.
Several of the colored preachers have
called on the condemned men and have
prayed with them.
Rey. P. Q. Cason of the Baptist church
chas also called on them and offered
prayer-and spiritual advice, as also have
some of the good sisters of St. Josephs
Convent. | -
‘Youmans will be baptised in the jail
yard today or tomorrow at latest. “There
isa large tank in the jail yard that is
used for a bath tub by the prisoners, and
this is large enough to permit of immer-
sion, which is the manner preferred by
Youmans. . ;
The execution of the two men will
take place atone and the same time.
It will occur between the hours of 10
a.m, and 12 noon oa Friday, one week .
from today, Dec. Ist. The men will
stand on the same trap and both will
drop when the sheriff draws the lever.
The law provides that the Sheriff shall |
have with him at least two deputies, and |
he is requested to invite the States attor-
ney, the clerk of the court and 12 re-
spectable citizens, including physicians
or surgeons, newspaper representatives,
besides the counscl of the condemned
and ministers.
In the execution of Henry Clay Beat-
tie jr. at Richmond, Va., today no news- |
paper reporters are allowed in thc death
chamber, as it is against the law in Vir-
ginia for newspapers to publish descrip-
I thought it was old satan sure and I he-
tions of legal executions.
‘~ @ ow SY
i ow @—=@0 44 4A ddd ed
i halt recall denied by court.
policeman to death.
by automobile.
is set.
woman starts today.
‘| take effect.
tacked.
lywood city attorney.
ter against wage bill.
used on organizers.
erans.
years, is restored to riches. Page 1-A
$7,000,000,000 in 11 months.
raids on Canton.
demands.
moon jump track.
enna, begins life anew.
' yi! ~“E€rgia 7 .
ae 43 of Today's News
~p. /-A and Features
MIAMI
Newsboy is questioned by G-men
in Cash kidnaping investigation.
Page 1-A
Commissioner Ferguson's plea to
Page 1-A
Crazed negro shoots Coral Gables
Page 1-.\
Miami boy dies after being struck
Page 3-.\
37,000 parcel sof land to be sold !
in delinquent tax auction. Page 94. Without provo¢ation, killed Police
Long delayed manslaughter trial |
Page 9A
‘Inquiry into beating of negro
Page +A
FLORIDA
Florida freight rate increases |
Page 10-A
Credibility of flogging victim at-
Page 10-A
Legislative nominee named Hol-
Page 10-A
pay todav.
Page 10-A
‘Hysler death sentence case closed.
° Page 10-A
Teachers may get full
NATIONAL
Dixie senators threaten filibus-
Page 1-A
Harlan witness says tear gas was
_ Page 1-A
disabled vet-
Page 1-A
Disinherited scion, poor for 13
Roosevelt greets
Government spending exceeds!
Page 7-A
FOREIGN
Japanese kill hundreds in air
Page 8B
Czech premier spurns Germans’
Uage &B
voleano in;
Page 8B}
Astronomer says earth makes
Page 8B
Sigmund Freud, driven from Vi-
Page 8B.
SPECTAL DEPARTMENT
Filipinos flee from
ruption,
| bles. The slayer was overcome after
ployed in Coral Gables live in the
‘Coconut Grove negro section, po-
UNALOU NUN
KILLS OFFICER
<2 PEO
Sergeant H. C. Barton,
Coral Gables, Shot
. . |
Without Provocation
MORE PHOTOGRAPHS ON PAGE 2-A.
An insane negro, firing Monday
Sergeant H. C. Barton of Coral Ga-
a Struggle with policemen and
lodged in the county jail.
The negro, said to have been twice
an asylum inmate, sent a_buck-
shot charge into Barton's back as
the sergeant. stood talking with a
woman at a shack in the Coconut
Grove negro section. _
Sergeant Louis A. Allen, Miami
process server, arrived at the slay-
er’s house with a traffic warrant a
few minutes after the policeman
was shot. ,
Barton, struck in the back by 12
slugs, died in University hospital
several minutes after he had been
brought there by his partner, Pa-
trolman Charles Ditsler.
Widow and Child Survive
Barton, who was 38 and resided
at 4152 S. W. Thirteenth street, is
survived bv the widow, Helen, and
a 3-year-old daughter, Ruth Ann. .
He had been a member of the Coral
Gables department since November,
1928, and a sergeant since 1937.
Because sO many negroes em-
licemen of the two cities co-oper-
ate in covering that area on the
fringe of the two municipalities.
Sergeant Barton, seeking a 20-
year-old negro wanted for strong:
oe residents of the Princeton
section, entered the building and ||
Whether they were voluntary
witnesses’ or had been sum.
moned could not be determined.
Their identity was guarded.
|
|
arming a negro woman Sunday
night in Coral Gables, went with |
Patrolman Ditsler across the Miami
line to the suspect's house.
Sending Ditsler to cover the rear
door, Sergeant Barton was stand-
ing on the front steps of 3771 Oak
notes, left his home on the first |
to finda third ransom note which |
ordered him to try again about
4a. m. It was on his second drive
that he made contact with the!’
| kidnapers, depositing the money | »
by the roadside after an exchange /
of signals whereby the kidnapers |.
instructed thim to flicker the!
headlights of his car and wait for
an answering beam.
Sunday, 24 hours after young
Fisher was picked up, two men |
who announced themselves as a |
federal agent and a sheriff’s dep-
uty called at the Homestead
home of Edwin McGarrah, who |
delivers bundles of The Herald
to the individual carriers from |
South Miami to Key West.
‘Herald Delays Delivery:
Usually delivered to Princeton |
shortly after midnight, The Her-
ald was not taken south of South |
Miami until nearly 3 a. m. on the \
morning the ransom was paid in
order to maintain further silence |’
'
on the kidnaping, although J. Ed. !
gar Hoover had authorized re- |’
lease of the story some time |
earlier.
McGarrah said the G-man and!
deputy asked him exactly what
time he reached Fisher’s home,
and he told them 2:45 a. m. He
said he had called out to ask
young Fisher how many extra
papers he wanted, and heard a
voice he believed was Fisher's
reply from inside ,the house:
rode to FBlheadquarters. :
4
i
a
5
fi
I
While he was in his automo: |
|
!
“Three.”
|
|
bile in front of the Fisher house,
McGarrah continued,
automobile made a U-turn in the
road ahead of him, came back |
and parked behind his car. Two |
another |
women got out, he said, and he°:.
Tuesday, October 7, 1941, Page 5.
THE. HERALD, MIAME, FLORIDA
[Gables Slayer
Electrocuted |
7 Frivell’ Metacen, convicted In Cle:
cult court of the murder of Palice
Sergt. 1). C. Barton of Coral Gables
in June, 1938, war ane of four mnén
electrocuted at the siate prison Mon:
d Vv ’ y :
twas the fleat tine electrocutlons | |
‘| have been conducted by an oo“ \ | | _
loner and the second Ume} 2 - fe ee ee r
ppahte lg have peld the extreine | lig cheqVorel sae Ho em eetion
nalty in ove dav. |: | ~ J out prevocattor . l
Pe rheeniegro was cearged with kilt: | near C roniut Grove _
ee "
Frizell McLaren, convicted in Circuit court of the murder of
Police Sergt. B. C. barton of Coral Gables in June 1933, was one of four
men electrocuted at the state prison Monday.
It was the first time electrocutions have been conducted by
an official executioner and the second time four men have paid the
extreme penalty in one day.
The negro was charged with killint the Coral Gales policeman
without provocation in a negro section near Coconut Grove.
THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jacksonville)
Tuesday, 7 October 1941,
page 7.
INQUEST |
Special Policeman Ih
County Jail.
~ We. Sixth: +’ tgp a beat d.
» Flagler aire! aria S., WE Furs;
a2 ‘ ) Fee viele Hee APS TR yer:
= wat be catetacted. int }
#. Sgt nage 3 ry :
~ “tirougi ey e Hist’
wee order. dankgh held |
4
es we “Mele
wo ree running. ‘through |
Tot, that he ordered: 3 a to |
B| "and: “When they contig tt
un he: fired. one abit es tr
e “iivestigatc ce
2X and that the sec {shot :
By ban in. Ule path of |
‘first. sek: enter ed a secotid,
¥ apa mt. 600 feet away.
- kat a Bhort Cut
—~ Was Informed bridayv be
e EQ. Crooks, Muami Herate
er under whem the
jars Rad told hun th.
ihe: Seine pies ‘
first phot “was a danges Me
F worked: that other rews ape
OS pen remenets epee»
ae
j hee
ie et ae i
* Suite, “gtate: tives ea F
ches that pe! ie
ys
i
SLAIN OFFICE
INQUEST 1 SPP
a Ce Te
ury Will Sift Stool of, ,
“Sorte ant H. C: Bar- |
_ ton On Monday a
on i ee ee ;
. |. ’ at ¢ ; > oy e.g. ae
; Anlingltest inte the fatal ahioutimis: &
1 ‘ st
of H.C. Bo-ien, AL, ftoral Gableaopu.
hee se ergeant, ‘in thie = pet Ceave -
e4
negro seelion on J.tue © thus beens
sehedul ed for Li w.jin. M4
; the cour cof O: B. 3
phe, peace: rece” ee
: oo. Frizeil: MeLaren, |3i. ‘negr be
id iy cba eonaty jal for ee
me: Killed by j a
S| Abo on: Lite" i !
i ,,
GHA UF
Utter, Justice of |
f
‘.
4h 4
~ +9, new
ee karen ig: saitegea to Se tired ;
obthe shot while.on the ore! of the ¥
home, of his brother ats ak ave |
i rh ts elther thar of. Mia
) |state:sand: Haney’s
ais aay “airplane tying “nt gees
a nae from: Bpairn- £ gave theseso
j nor}. ‘personally: and} know: thes
padge. |. earried| outs’ it he: premier:
BANANAS
Delicious in Flaver—Rich! in Hie,
mins——High | in Food Value.
BUT :
LOW IN PRICE!
AMERICAN DETECTIVE
Photos showing how the kidnaper cut a corner of ~
the screen to gain entrance to the Cash living
quarters at the rear of their general store.
tea | sat r
ea |
word to him through his mother, whose cabin he visits
periodically. But as I made the latter promise I knew it
never would be fulfilled. The forces against which this man
pitted himself when he entered the alien-running racket
never forget; neither do they ever close a file and mark it
unsolved.
I left him with the signed confession in my pocket. I had
full authentication at last for the story that had taken two
months to get and had flung me along the Florida coast from
Tampa to Key West and thence to the West Indies and
back again.
The skipper of the boat that had brought me to Flamingo
wiped the sweat from his forehead when I came aboard and
murmured: “Hot as the in-
sides of—down here. I
thought you were never
coming back.”
“Tt took a long time find-
ing him and getting him to
talk,” I said. “He was
camped away north, deep in
the ’glades. But I’m through
now and we can get back
to civilization—”
“You think you’re
through!” he said. “This
country’s teeming with excitement.”
“Excitement over this fellow I’ve been trailing?” I asked
incredulously. “Why, the government doesn’t even know—”
“Not him,” the skipper spat a stream of tobacco juice over -
the side of the foul-smelling shark boat which I had hired
to bring me along the coast. ‘Something else’s happened.
All hell’s broke loose up around Homestead somewhere. A
kidnaping up there at Homestead—or Princeton. They’re
watching. all the coast. A fisherman came by here an hour
ago and told me.”
Homestead or Princeton, I thought rapidly. Both are small
towns on the Miami-Key West highway; about twenty-five
miles south of Miami. A kidnaping there might mean that a
story of international proportions had “broken” here in the
southern end of Florida. Ever since the wave of .kidnapings
in America began with the Lindbergh snatch, the Miami
police and sheriff’s department had been apprehensive, I
knew. Sitting on a powder keg; as it were, with the nation’s
wealthiest families wintering in the Mianzi area and the
nation’s most desperate criminals looking in that direction
when the winter snows are swirling farther north, the
Miami authorities had good reason to insist on the passage
of Florida’s famous “death for kidnapers” law in 1933.
And now the thing that everyone feared had come. It
had come while I was sweating and toiling over the. trails
through palmetto thickets, and sawgrass marsh; winding
my way through the tangled roots of the mangroves after
my rendezvous with the mass murderer.
The sharkboat was sturdy. The skipper promised he could
By Jack De Witt
and featuring the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
run me on northward through the canal or around the coast.
By daylight he could land me within easy automobile dis-
tance of Princeton.or Homestead, wherever the “snatch” had
occurred.
That is why, on Monday morning, May 30, 1938, I came
into Princeton, Florida, to find that tiny hamlet on the
Federal highway literally swarming with grim faced men,
all of whom carried rifles or revolvers. They stood in
groups discussing in low tones the kidnaping of five-year-old
James Bailey “Skeegie” Cash, the son of the proprietor of a
filling station, lunch room and general store.
The child had been snatched from his crib in a ground
floor bedroom at the rear of a large frame apartment build-
ing and general store, at
10:30 on Saturday night.
The first man I talked to
readily pointed out the
store.
“The Cash family owns a
big part of this village,” the
stranger told me. “The little
fellow’s father owns that
building and some others.
Another Cash owns the fill-
ing station and_ building
next door. They’re kind of
well off, I reckon.” ;
Swiftly he supplied me with the details of the account of
“Skeegie” Cash’s kidnaping as he knew them. After the
“snatch”, came the inevitable ransom notes. The father was
due to go out at midnight that very day to contact the kid-
napers and take along ten thousand dollars in ransom money.
The newspapers and the law had agreed to “lay off” the
case to give the father a chance to get his baby back alive.
But the law was ready and the.FBI agent from Miami had
started work on the tase within a few hours of the kidnaping.
“All these people in town are waiting for the word to start
searching in the brush,” my informant said. “They’re all
nervous and anxious to go, and there’s a’plenty already out
in the brush searching for signs of a hideout or of—of the
child. But they’re waiting until after midnight. Waiting to
give the father a chance.”
I left him and in the next ten minutes I had a glimpse of a
harassed father, around the corners of whose grim, tight
‘lipped mouth were white lines. James Bailey Cash was a tall
man whose hair was beginning to recede from his forehead.
He looked haggard and worn. I had an impression that the
last thirty-six hours had aged him a dozen years.
But he was not the type of man you would expect to see
as the father of a kidnap victim. His home and the entire
village of Princeton in no way fitted the kidnap picture.
I had come expecting to learn that a late lingering millionaire
from the north had been the victim of this latest “snatch”.
The scene, by rights, should have been one of those palm
dotted estates with a huge rambling house of pseudo-
)
—
Sais a's
Sate
eee eget: sateen Ba tT Bie Ee a EB
a as EE
Mediterranean architecture.
Instead, America’s most dreaded
crime had been committed in a village
that was little more than a wide place
on the highway which leads south-
Unaware that his son was not alive, the
father had stopped his car at 4 a.m. at a
spot indicated in the ransom note and
placed the money where the abductors could
pick it up.
quickly informed me_ that another
note had appeared at the home of As-
bury Cash, an uncle of the missing
boy, giving instructions where the
first could be found.
wards from Miami. The famed Fed-
eral highway that has recently been ,
repaired and completed to cross by causeway to the keys
and so on to Key West. Aside from the few neat, white
painted buildings at the edge of the highway, most of which
I had been informed were owned by the Cash family, the
village was a collection of shacks and modest homes dotted
among the palmettos and the pines to the east and west. But
for the tourists who had made this highway thoroughfare a
profitable place to erect filling stations and a large frame
apartment house, Princeton was a typical cracker village in
the vegetable growing mucklands of South Florida.
Around the outskirts of the town were the inevitable citrus
groves with their more or less pretentious homes on palm
‘shaded lawns. And into this setting had come kidnapers to
snatch the child of a small property owner and demand a
modest ransom of ‘ten thousand’ dollars.
On the face of it the kidnaping was the work of local
talent; or at least it had been “cased” by local men who
knew all about the Cash family.
Half a dozen law enforcement officers from Miami to
-whom I talked in the next hour bore out this theory of a
“local job”. Sheriff D, C. Coleman who had already spent
one sleepless night in the area was convinced, he said, that
the kidnaping had been done: by “local talent”. Convinced
of this fact also was Boling Dye, a policeman from nearby
Homestead, who’ was one of the first officers on the scene
to assure Cash that no attempt would be made to locate the
kidnapers until he had made the contact and paid the ransom
money.
But the ransom had been demanded in’a manner that was
professional. The kidnapers had attempted to place the first
note under the door of a shack owned by a Negro named
John Manuel. The Negro, scared when a voice had awakened
him and demanded that he carry the note to James Bailey
‘ne Sr., had fled out of the front door and taken to the
rush. ? :
Manuel was not there when I went to pick up the threads
of the ransom demand at his cabin. His shack consisted of
one room in front and a lean-to kitchen at the rear. Several
loiterers pointed out the place where the kidnap note had
been thrust btween the back door and the jamb. Others
yaar
Somehow news of the contents of
the notes had leaked out. The baby’s
father had been told to begin a carefully described twenty-
five mile drive at midnight on Monday, with the ten thou-
sand dollars on the seat of the car beside him. He would be
signalled by a flashlight when he had reached the place
where the money should be deposited at the roadside.
The notes, and the carefully mapped out route the father
was to follow, had a professional touch ‘which conflicted
with the plain evidence of local talent and amateurish at-
temps to obtain easy money by kidnaping. A demand that
the notes be placed with the money when it was delivered
certainly suggested the shrewdness of a professional criminal.
Newspapermen from Miami, whose papers were “holding
off” the story, had been carefully and quietly checking these
details against the time when they could write them. They
had learned, for instance, that shortly before the child was
kidnaped, Mrs. Cash had placed him in his crib, read a comic
section to him, and then as he dozed off in his little bed,
quietly switched out the lights and joined her husband in
the store where he was checking up his receipts for the night.
Among the persons to enter the store that night were a
carpenter who had come as usual on Saturday night to buy
his groceries, and Franklin Pierce McCall, a young neighbor-
hood married man and friend of the Cash family, who had
merely asked for the time.
I made a note of these two names. Later I was to learn
that the Federal agents and Sheriff Coleman also had care-
fully noted them for future reference. My motive in noting
them was so that when the barriers of inactivity were lifted,
the ransom paid and the child returned, I could collect what
human interest data these two, or others in the store that
night, could tell me about the actions of the baby’s parents.
A tropical rainstorm burst over Princeton on Mpnday
afternoon as I joined the throngs of prospective searchers
waiting for action to begin. It was one of the first showers
of the annual rainy season and it turned the southern Florida
country into a veritable greenhouse of humid, steaming heat.
Night brought cooling winds from the Gulf, however, and
slowly, as midnight approached, the tensity of those few
watchers: who remained awake, increased. At midnight
James Bailey Cash made his solitary pilgrimage over the
MeCALL, Franklin P., white, elec. Fla. (Dade) on February 2h, 1939
\
is no
a reas
nthe
nedan
Max
ter at
Ver
public
| one
vn the
sured
> and
» lose
ier in
ging
was
pport
roved
»wen-
hos-
men,
dug
| for
Both
And
John Edgar Hoover, indefatigable director of the FBI,
and his chief aide, E. J. Connelly, flew down from
Washington to lead his investigators, while armies
of possemen, 17 planes of the Navy Dept. with a
radio operator to keep in touch with them, lake divers
and radio stations all cooperated in the most inten-
sive hunt ever organized for a kidnap victim,
thal
she
shed
same
rek *s
‘om
» the
light
vhole
Kup-
fake
» the
The
here
They
raud
was
,
rong
with
icted
d to
: “n
——
-
AMERICAN
bog
y
ital
sorrowing
Coming back to civilization from the “green hell” of
the Everglades, where he obtained the confession of
a mass murderer, in his hideout— AMERICAN
DETECTIVE’s reporter interviews, BEFORE his
arrest, the slayer in the sensational snatch at
Princeton, Florida
HE bearded man squatted opposite me in the shade
of a cabbage palm, and poised a note pad on his
: boney knees. His haunted eyes, red rimmed, wolfish
eyes, stared into mine for a second. He held the
stub of a pencil poised above the note pad.
- ¥If it’s the truth you’ve told me, sign it,” I urged him.
“It’s true,” his hairy lips mouthed the words. “By God!
it’s true. But I’m squawking to a hundred murders—a hun-
dred and fifty murders!”
“Sign it!”
The pencil shook in his brown hand. He hesitated another
moment, then awkwardly he. scrawled his name’ “Hose
Tomlins” across the bottom of the last page of this fearful
confession.
He handed the note pad back to me with a sigh. The wild
look faded out of his eyes. “You think it'll ever be safe to
come out?” He squatted lower on ‘his heels, like an Indian.
“Ever 2?” '
“I don’t know,” I told him truthfully. “You’ve been living
like a beast in the brush for ten years now. But you’re
living—remember that. Your pal is dead this long time—
hanged !”
“T know, I know,”
he hastened. “But
Laughing lit- get word to the old
tle "Skeegie", woman for me if it’s
whose body safe, will you? Get
was thrown
in a thicket
less than a
mile from the
home of his
word to her. Tell
her to give me the
signal and I’ll come
out—if it’s safe.”
I folded the three
pages of as bizarre
a confession as I
parents,
have ever read in years'of writing about crime. This
meeting with the hunted man, deep in the Everglades down
near the southern tip of Florida, completed my work on the
alien smuggling, alien murdering gang which flourished
when this felon first hid himself in the mangrove swamps
and cypress jungles. For seven days I had hunted for
Tomlins. Without the aid of his aging mother, who desired
above all else to “get religion into my boy before I die”, |
never could have found him.
The deeply religious old Cracker woman led me through
the mangroves near the coast at Flamingo, northward to
the northeast tip of Whitewater Bay. There, in the steaming
heat of the only true tropical jungles in America, I met her
son. And after a day in his camp where he lived as the
Seminoles live, in filth, with slow degeneration of body and
mind, he told me the full story of his part in the most brutal
campaign of mass murder that ever was conducted within
gunshot distance of the shores of the United States.
Weeks before, when I started to work on this investigation,
I had talked to the government authorities who informed me
that the only person who could tell me the truth was this
man whom they thought might still be living in the deepest
and most remote of the Florida jungles. All -the forces of
the United States Secret Service, working from 1928 until
1933 or ’34, when the search was dropped, had been unable
to strike the trail of this man who chose to live like an
animal in the deepest wilderness rather than die on the
gallows.
It was a full day before he talked. Then he blurted out
the whole awful story like a man who has been holding the
words too long in a tortured mind. I promised him that the
manhunters would not again be put on his trail through any
effort of mine. I promised him that if his case ever were
dropped by the United States Secret Service, I would get
word tc
periodic
never w
pitted b
never {c
unsolvec
I left
full autt
months :°
Tampa
back ag: |
The s
wiped tt
murmur:
sides 0
thought
coming
“Tt to: |
ing him
talk,” |]
camped
the ’glac
now an
to civili:
Lain of Oo P
through
country’
“Exci
incredul:
“Not
the side
to bring
All hell’ |
kidnapir
watchin;
ago and
Home
towns o
miles so
story of
southerr
in Ame
police a
knew. &
wealthie
nation’s
when tl
Miami <
of Flori:
And ;
had con
through
my way
my rend
The s)
prayer. Unfortunately, these prayers
were too late to bring back to life
little Skeegie Cash. ~
Along with Sheriff Coleman and
Deputy Sheriff Eavenson, I rode with
McCall via auto to the State prison.
He sat in the back seat between
Eavenson and myself and at no time
was he handcuffed. Before leaving, I
pointed out to him that, since we had
not handcuffed him, we hoped he
would appreciate the courtesy. I also
mentioned that, if he had any thoughts
of escape, such thoughts would not
only be foolish, but would oblige us to
shoot him down like quail.
“You needn’t worry, Ray,” he said.
“You have been kind to me and. I
won’t try to escape.”
We: stopped for lunch at New
Smyrna, a town along the coast,
and then I took: him for a short walk
around the block. There were just
the two of us, but at no time did he
make any attempt to break away and
run. Returning to the car Deputy
Sheriff Eavenson was reading the
morning paper. On the front page was
a picture of McCall’s wife. I tried to
hide this from him, knowing that it
always enraged him. He didn’t seem
to care what the papers said about
him, but his wife was sacred. Hitherto,
while in the Dade county jail, he
would fly into a rage each time the
papers published her picture, then he
would tear the paper into small bits.
This time, however, he just cursed the
paper for publishing the photo, then.
concluded: “I'd like to live just long
enough to kill the dirty who
printed her picture.”
Then he carefully tore out the pho-
tograph and placed it in his wallet.
During the rest of the trip to the
State prison McCall talked about
everything but his crime. He was
much concerned with the next world
and life after death. That death was
to be his portion, and soon, he seemed
to have no doubt. As to the murder of
Skeegie Cash, he still insisted it was
a horrible accident.
“He must have strangled between
his house and mine,” he said. “I guess
I pressed too hard on the handker-
chiefs I held over his face.”
For one, I think he is telling the
truth, although the majority of offi-
cials and citizens, alike, feel certain
that he had no intention of returnin
Skeegie alive. They feel that he ha
planned to kill him, collect the ran-
som, and, after remaining around
Princeton for several months, leave
town and spend the money.
I had that same thought in the begin-
ning but, after practically living with
McCall for ten days in his cell, I am
convinced that he was stupid enough
to think he could return the child, -
alive, after collecting the $10,000.
We arrived at Raiford Prison, de-
livered McCall into the care of War-
den L. F. Chapman, and then returned
to Miami. At no time did he attempt
any escape en route, and I strongly
doubt that he ever thought of it. In
fact, he was the most gentle and docile
prisoner I have ever escorted to Rai-
ford. And he was the only one I didn’t
believe it necessary to handcuff.
McCall remained in State Prison for
approximately eight months. During
that period I had a few talks with him.
and found that he had changed some-
what. For one thing, he recanted his
confession, and said that he didn’t be-
lieve he had committed such a hideous
crime against a helpless child. He
I admit .
asanu ACABAICUL sdsnadasiry Cassua WaAD 6444
various insanity tests. In all these
tests he was adjudged normal by the
psychiatrists.
Near the end of his trial he devel-
oped a strong martyr complex. He felt
that he was persecuted by society in
general and the newspapers in partic-
ular. To the very end, I believe, he
hoped some major miratle would oc-
cur to stop his walk to the chair. He
never mentioned this, but deep down
in his heart he hoped, and even
prayed, that his death sentence would
be commuted to life imprisonment.
Comes now the Final Day for
Franklin Pierce McCall. It is Febru-
ary 24, 1939, and the time is shortly
before 11 a.m. McCall was in the death
cell, just a few feet outside the door
which opened into full view of the
chair. Sheriff Coleman stood before
his cell and read the death warrant.
The 21-year-old kidnaper listened
silently, alternately chewing and
smoking a cigar. When the sheriff con-
cluded, McCall stretched out his hand,
and said: “I understand your position,
Sheriff. Just take it easy. You know,
no malice.”
“No, no malice,” Coleman echoed.
And a few moments later two guards
led McCall into the death chamber. ©
He was steady, and wore his hat, and
had four sheets of paper in his right
hand. He was vain, and the reason he
wore his old felt hat was because he
did not want to be seen with his head
shaved for the contact of the head
’ electrode.
S HE entered the little door be-
tween two guards the Rev. Leslie
S. Shepherd began to read the niagnifi-
cently worded Twenty-third Psalm.
McCall looked straight ahead, his eyes
clear and bright. The Lord is my
shepherd. I shall not want. McCall
repeated the words. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He
leadeth me beside the still waters.
McCall halted and began to study the
faces of the assembled witnesses and
officials. He restoreth my soul. He
leadeth me in the paths of righteous-
ness for His name’s sake,
McCall adjusted his old hat, pulling
up the brim.
Then he turned to the Rev. Mr.
Shepherd and said: “Just a moment,
please.”
The minister stopped, and McCall
walked over to.the chair and sat
down. This startling act amazed every
one. It had never been done before.
Seating himself, he faced the assem-
bled company, and said, “Excuse me
for sitting down. They punctured my
spine yesterday for a sanity test and
it hurts me to stand.”
Next, he began to read his prepared
farewell address to the world. He
read rapidly, but his voice was calm
‘and normal. He began by stating that
he felt he was in the same position as
the Saviour. Noting that this did not
go too well with his listeners, he apol-
ogized for comparing himself with the
Saviour and then went on with his
reading.
He said he had no hard feelings
against anybody but at the same time
blamed society, the courts, and the
press for his plight. This, of course,
didn’t make sense. He further stated
that he didn’t think he really kidnaped
Skeegie Cash.
Which also failed to make sense.
He seemed like a man talking in a
dream.
When he finished, he appeared dis-
appointed that there was no applause. stupid.”
stupid.”
44ACL€C Was a AUL UL Aleddi ALLUL dah
Franklin Pierce McCall. As he sat
back in the chair, McCall noticed Bill
Matthews, star reporter for the Miami
Daily News. Waving his four-page
speech, he said: “This is for you, Bill,
for being so fair to me.”
Matthews took the pages.
turned them over to McCall’s family,
at their request. °
During the last part of his reading
the guards were adjusting the leg
straps. McCall leaned over, tapped a
guard on back, and asked, “Will you
make that just as tight as you can?”
McCall’s hat was removed, showing ~
the shaved bald spot on top of his .
head. And then the grotesque hood of --
leather and electrode was placed over
his face and head, along with the face —
straps. The Rev. Mr. Shepherd went
on: Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I shall
fear no evil. The state electrician
looked over the chair and seemed dis-
satisfied with his job. Taking a pair of
pliers from his hip pocket, he started
to tighten the contact between the
high voltage wire and the head mask.
For Thou art with me. Thy rod and
Thy staff, they comfort me. Call
appeared to repeat the words, but his |
voice was inaudible. ~
Back of the chair stood Sheriff D. C.
Coleman, the official executioner. Di-
rectly back of him on the wall was
the master switch and the rheostat.
Thou preparest a table before me in
the presence of mine enemies. Thou
anointest my head with oil.
“Ready,” came the hushed voice of
Warden Chapman.
The electrician nodded to Sheriff
Coleman. The sheriff pushed the
switch and thén began turning the
rheostat. The 200-pound body of Mc-
Call thumped against the straps that
held him captive in the chair. | 3
Came the whispered voice, “Fifteen,
twenty, twenty-five, thirty-five—that’s
enough, sheriff.” It was exactly 11:08 .
when McCall’s body received the full
2300 volts. McCall’s form slumped
back in the chair. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life—
A physician applied his stethoscope
to McCall’s chest. The heart continued
to beat. —and I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. Amen.
The heart of McCall became fainter
and fainter. Finally, but not until
eight minutes had passed, did the phy-
sician utter the fatal words: “I pro-
nounce this man dead.”
His body was removed from the
chair amidst a hushed audience. Not
a word was spoken. In front of the
chair was a low stretcher. Guards
lifted the dead kidnaper out of the
chair and placed him on it. His eyes ,;
were closed. g
Ws: all filed out into the bright ©4
Florida sunshine, warm 3
cheerful. As we passed through the :4
door, a high prison official said: °4
a went the coldest killer of them =
all!” a
.I disagreed. There went, in my #
opinion, the strangest and dumbest *|
killer of them all. ‘@
McCall’s remains were taken to his 7
birthplace, in Jasper, Florida, and <#
placed in a grave beside that of his 7%
honorable and reverend father. I}
wonder if the father and son met on:
the Other Shore? If so, I can hear ®
the father ask, “Son, son, why did you
do it?” And the son’s reply could only
be, “Father, I don’t know; I was verys
’
Later, he Bry
and 3
DETECTIVE
talk and ate very little. He just sat on
the edge of his small, plain prison cot,
hands cupped in chin, like the famous
Rodin statue of The Thinker.
Finally, he warmed up and told me
the whole, pitiful story. .
“For the two years since we have
been married,” McCall said, “my wife
and I have done without things and I
tried to make a living the best I knew
how. I haven’t had any special train-
ing in any line of work, and all the
work I know is manual labor, and in
this work you can’t make enough to
support a wife as she should be sup-
ported. I thought of practically every-
thing in the world—how to get money,
how to get a job, and I tried to get a
job to give her the things she needed
and should have.
__“Then, about two weeks ago, the
idea popped into my mind that I
should kidnap somebody. I ess I
was desperate, I don’t know. I didn’t
know who to kidnap, and I didn’t have
a car. I knew if I borrowed a car
something might happen and I would
be caught. So I decided that whoever
I did kidnap would have to be within
walking distance, not too far from the
heart of Princeton. I knew that three
people had money, including James
Bailey Cash. So I forgot the other
two I had in mind and decided to kid-
nap Skeegie Cash. I knew all-about
the whole family and just where .
Skeegie would be sleeping. So about
a week after I had made up my mind
to kidnap Skeegie Cash I wrote the
<a note on a white scratch
pad.”
“Just where did you write this first
note?” I asked.
“I wrote it in my house,” he replied.
“No one knew about it and I told no-
body about my plans. I had prepared
the note in advance, in case I went
through with the kidnaping. As to
knowing that Mr. and Mrs. Cash went
to the store at certain times on Satur-
day night, I didn’t really know this
to be a fact, or what time they went,
but I did know on lots of days, even
during the night, she and he both were
in the store together, though never
very far from the store when they
did go out. I can’t remember which
night in the week it was that I copied
the first note off the white scratch
paper onto the brown wrapping paper
which I cut with my penknife from an~
ordinary bag.”
“Where did you copy the note?” I
asked.
“Same place I wrote the first one,
home. I left it inside my coat pocket,
hanging in the house, but I can’t re-
member what happened exactly that
_ Saturday night.”
“But that was the day you took
Skeegie, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, that is true. I know I was at
a friend’s house, and from there I
walked to the Cash store. When I
went into the store Mr. and Mrs. Cash
and a few customers were there and
I asked them what the time was.”
“Why did you ask the time? Did
you have a motive?”
“I really don’t know. Anyway, Mrs.
COLDEST KILLER
Continued from page 45
Cash said it was half-past nine, so then
I walked out to behind the store and
in between the alley to the apartment
house and up to the screen door.
found the door locked, so I cut a hole
in the screen, put my hand in and un-
locked it. Then I walked down the
hall and into the back bedroom, where
Skeegie was sleeping. I know I picked
Skeegie.up with my right arm and
held two handkerchiefs over his
mouth, eyes and nose.”
I had noticed that his voice had
softened somewhat at his first mention
of Skeegie. And now, as he led up to
the account of little Skeegie’s death,
he seemed a little flustered.
He paused for a few seconds, then
continued:
“I didn’t know I had covered his
nose and then I rushed out the same
door and walked through the under-
brush to my home. He never moved
all the time I was carrying him and I
thought he was asleep. I went in
through the back door and the house
was dark, the way I had left it. Know-
ing that Skeegie could not recognize
me in the dark I tried to wake him up.
I began to shake him and call out his
name but he never moved and didn’t
speak. I guessed he must be uncon-
scious so I had heard that when people
are unconscious they should be given
artificial respiration. I tried this and
also a damp cloth over his face, but he
didn’t move, and I knew he must be
dead. I didn’t know what to do, so I
picked up Skeegie and went out the
back door and through the underbrush
in back of the house. I kept walking
until I came to the pine tree where
they found him. This is.about half a
mile from my house. Then I ran back
to my house and got the note and
brought it to John Emanuel’s place
and disguised my voice so he wouldn’t
recognize me.
“After I-had given John the note I
waited some distance outside to see if
he started to walk to the Cash store
to deliver the note. When. I decided
he wasn’t going to take it there, I
went back to my house and wrote
another note and slipped it under the
door of the R. A. Cash home. Then I
went back to my house and sat in the
parlor with a magazine, but I didn’t
read. Soon I saw a stream of cars
seg in toward John Emanuel’s
ouse, and I knew then that they had
got the second note, telling that the
st note was at John’s house.
“Saturday and Sunday I rode
around with others looking for Skee-
gie, and then I wrote the third note
and slipped it under the door of the
filling station.”
“What about the ten thousand dpl-
lars ransom money?” I asked. “Exactly
how did you collect it?”
I had already heard his version from
the FBI agents, but I wanted to see if
he would change it any. He didn’t.
He gave me the same version.
“‘T walked to the orange grove in
front of John Chambers’ house. I went
into the grove for about fifty yards
and then I walked east through this
grove to the spot where I later. flashed
he wanted to know.
the flashlight in the signal for Mr. =
Cash to stop.
before Mr.
Several cars went by
ash’s car came along, and =
I just recognized it as he was about to.<
pass me by. I flashed the light twice
and he jammed on the brakes and
stopped quickly. Then he got out with By
the shoebox under his arm and walked - = *
to a telegraph pole and dropped the es a
box. Then he walked quickly to his <7;
car and drove away rapidly.”
“Did you walk right out and get the
box with the money?”
“I got the box as soon as Mr. Cash
was out of sight and walked back into _
the grove. I ripped open the box, took >= 4
out a bundle of two hundred and fifty
dollars in five-dollar bills, then threw
the rest of the money in the corner of ©)
the stone fence. The band around the |=
bundle broke and I jammed the money ~ =
into my pocket. Then I went to the <3
old office in back of H. McLaughlin’s 23
house and put the money in an old
oil drum.” i
“There was five dollars missing from
that bundle. What about that?”
“I really don’t know,” McCall said. a
“I know I never spent it. It must have
dropped, out, I guess, when the band | g
broke.”
“How did you ever e ect to get
away with such a thing?” asked. “In
the first place, Skeegie knew you and, - Ee
in the second, how did you hope to re- — Bs
turn him to his parents?” a
“IT had planned to keep Skeegie 1n
an old vacant house, but I never had
the chance to take him there. He was
dead. I was going to feed him milk
and keep him blindfolded so he
wouldn’t recognize me.” me
“And what about returning him?
I asked again.
McCall looked down on the concrete
cell floor for a moment before reply-
ing. Then: “Well, to tell the truth, I
never figured that out at the time. I
was going to plan that later.”
“Didn’t you realize that you had less
than one chance in a million of being
successful? In fact, your entire plan
was childish.” ?
“Well, it looked all right to me, and
I still don’t know how they picked me
up.” <
Peyou were suspected from the sec-
ond day,” I told him. “It was while
you were mowing the grass in front
of your father-in-law’s | L
of Police Quigg, of Miami, was talking
ith some officers near you and he |
noticed d each time |
you came near them and tried to lis- |
ten. He said to the officers: ‘I think |
noticed that you stoppe
Cie iG shane oe a ate |
ouse. Chief | f
that young man knows something —@&
about all this.’ He was going to pick =
you up then on suspicion, but the.
him to wait.
other officers advise
awhile.” ;
“But how did they get me?” McCall 4
asked.
‘discovered’ that third ransom note.*
Your acting was a bit crude, to say the;
least. And it was Sheriff Coleman;
who red you were the man.” i
“Suppose I hadn’t made the confes-
sion. How could they prove I did it?"
“You really got R hae pee when you |
seme ~~
=
ee ae Rees
pve eae
RRR se
ie)
4
at
“That,” I said, “would just have
been a matter of time. You left enough
clues to nail you eventually.”
Then he asked me if I thought they
would electrocute him. I told him
quite frankly that I did and that they
would.
He pondered that for a minute, then
aid: “Well, Ray, I guess I am better
-ff than you are. ou might walk
across the street and a car kill you.
But are you ready to die? Well, you
see, I am.”
DAY before his short trial he
handed me a letter to give to
Captain Chris Switzer, then the chief
jailer of the Dade County prison. It
was addressed to his brother, in Jas-
per, Florida.
All letters had ‘to be censored before
they could be mailed. I told him I
would censor it for him.
“No,” he said, “I don’t want you to
know the contents of this until after
my death.”
Nevertheless, I took the letter out-
side and read it. I was amazed to find
that he had made me a part benefi-
ciary of his insurance. He told his
brother that I had been kind to him
and that he wanted his brother to see
that I got some of the money. I showed
the letter to Sheriff Coleman, but not
to the press. It is mentioned here for
the first time. I don’t know what be-
came of the insurance, but I still have
the letter.
McCall went to trial on June 15th,
before Circuit Judge H. F. Atkinson.
He had waived a trial by jury, which
meant that the verdict of the judge
was the equivalent of a jury.
Taking the stand in his own behalf,
he admitted his guilt in full. Asked
if he had mopar to say, he bowed
his head and merely said he hoped his
great mistake would be a lesson to all
other young men. “I thought money
‘was everything,” he said. “I now know
that it isn’t.”
And right there you have the core
of the whole hideous crime. McCall
wanted money and went out to collect ~
it the most stupid of all possible ways.
At the end of the less-than-three-
hour trial, Judge Atkinson said: “I.
find that the accused is guilty of the
crime of kidnaping for ransom.”
At 10 o’clock the following morning,
McCall was sentenced to death in the
electric chair at Raiford State Prison.
I had talks with him after his sen-
tence. He did not seem perturbed in
the least. He was as calm as ever,
and showed no fear or worry about his
forthcoming execution. “Why should
anybody be afraid of death?” he asked.
I didn’t have the answer to that and
remained silent.
He was deeply religious, and during
his incarceration he had many visits
WAS THIS SEVEN-MONTH PERIOD OPEN SEASON FOR MURDER?
On July 3, 1888, Handsome Harry
Carlton stood with his gleaming patent-
leather shoe on the brass rail of a
Bowery saloon. He gulped his shot of
nickel bar whiskey (yes, you could get
it for that price then!) and chased it
down with a huge stein of beer. This
was not the first drink that Handsome
Harry had taken that day; nor was it
the tenth.
He had been imbibing. steadily for
some four hours, and he was a man of
vast capacity. It was 6 o’clock in the
evening, and the bar was crowded. At
the rear, the free-lunch counter was in
the process of being picked clean.
The alcohol coursed stoutly. through
Handsome Harry’s veins and he began
to feel the need for action. A sedentary
minor confidence man when _ sober,
Harry Carlton invariably became vio-
lent when drunk.
Neither he nor the district attorney
ever found out what started the brawl
at the free-lunch counter. It began as
spontaneously as a South American
revolution. One second the barroom
was comparatively quiet, and the next
second there was a flurry of fists and
a bedlam of cursing voices.
Handsome Harry Carlton made no
effort to choose a side. He whooped
joyously, reached over the bar and
snatched the sawed-off baseball bat
which the proprietor used in emergen-
cies, jammed his brown derby down
over his ears and charged into the fray.
He laid about him stoutly, bruising
heads and shoulders indiscriminately,
and was still doing so when Patrolman
Joseph Brennan pushed through the
swinging doors to quell the riot.
Now, in the past, Handsome Harry
Carlton’s relations with the Law had
hardly been fraternal. They had been
limited to a sojourn in the prisoner's
dock while an individual tm-a blue
uniform attested to damaging facts
concerning the defendant.
With his fighting blood aroused and
a lethal weapon in his hand, it seemed
to Harry Carlton that the fortuitous
arrival of a copper was a gift from
Heaven.
He disentangled himself from the
main body of the brawl, lifted his bat
like a battle-axe and charged on the
policeman. The first blow felled Patrol-
man Joseph Brennan, the second frac-
tured his skull, but Handsome Harry
kept on swinging. He was belaboring
a very dead policeman when the patrol-
wagon clanged up.
In due course, Handsome Harry Carl- ©
ton was indicted for first-degree murder
and brought to trial. Following the
custom of every affluent criminal of the
day, Carlton had retained the firm of
Howe and Hummel for the defense.
William F. Howe, who in his. career
defended more than 650 murderers, ap-
peared in the courtroom and made a
stormy and tearful appeal to the jurors.
However, the jury remained unim-
pressed. After an hour’s wrangling,
they brought in a verdict of guilty. -
But Howe was not yet through. He
had a trump card, and when he played
it a shudder of terror coursed down the
law-abiding spine of New York State.
In December, 1888, Handsome Harry
Carlton was brought before the trial
judge for sentence. As is the custom,
the Court inquired if Harry had any-
thing to say before sentence of death
was passed upon him.
Attorney Howe rose and spoke. .
“He has this to say: He says that
Your Honor can not now pass any
sentence of death upon him. He says
that the legislature, by its enactment of
Chapter 499 of the Laws of 1888, pre-
clude your sentencing him at all.”
District Attorney Fellows stared at
Howe in bewilderment, and the judge
inguired sternly what in the name of
Blackstone Howe was talking about.
Howe explained. Early in 1888, the -
State--Legislature had passed what it
entitled the Electric Death Penalty Law.
Its prime purpose was to abolish the
gallows and substitute the electric chair.
To this end the solons had decreed that
-no condemned man was to be hanged
after June 4; that electrocution was to
be the approved capital penalty from
January 1, 1889.
Now, doubtless it had been in the
minds of the lawmakers that anyone
convicted of murder after June 4th,
‘1888, should remain in prison until the
beginning of the next year, When he
could be legally executed. But the
calibre of legislators in those days was
apparently not too high.
What the new law actually said was
that no one in New York State could
be hanged after June 4, that electrocu-
tion would be legal after January 1,
1889, and would be applicable to “all
convictions for crimes punishable by
death after that date.”
That, as William F. Howe argued,
cleared the way .for a seven-month
period during which there was no pen-
alty at all for first-degree murder, since
at that period the sole prescribed pun-
ishment was death.
The top legal minds of the period
agreed whole-heartedly with the wily
defense lawyer. Handsome Harry’s trial
judge wrestled with the matter and de-
cided to pass the buck. He sentenced
Harry to death and let the matter move
up to a higher court.
The journalists of the period glee-
fully seized their pens and proceeded
to have a field day. They informed a
horrified public that if the higher courts
upheld Howe’s contention, not only
would Carlton go free but every killer
in the state who languished in jail
awaiting the privilege of sitting in the
new electric chair would also be re-
leased.
Moreover, the few remaining weeks
of the year would constitute an open
season for murderers. Killing could be
done without penalty, with impunity
and no fear of the law.
Since it was generally agreed by com-
petent lawyers. that Howe’s interpreta-
tion of the law was legally correct,
District Attorney Fellows and Inspector
Byrnes of the Police Department imme-
diately issued statements to the effect
that they would make every effort to see
that all potential killers were kept in
check during the open murder season.
The entire community anxiously
awaited the decision of the higher
courts. Fihally they handed down their
dictum. .
While they agreed that the law was
exactly what Howe had contended it
was, they also decided that inexcusable
carelessness on the part of the legisla-
ture should not be permitted to jeopard-
ize the safety of the whole State.
Handsome Harry Carlton’s conviction
was upheld. He was ordered immedi-
ately hanged. And he was the last man
to be so put to death in New York
State.—Jack D'Arcy.
S Dir What AGE ble Caml aati ir ata eat al
‘ ¢
Nase oe Lawyer Employed!
Senate
State Attorney Announces
Action on Additional In-
dictment in Cash Kidnap
Case Will Be Taken If
Family's Clemency Move
Succondds.
a
MEETING OF PARDON
BOARD TO BE SOUGHT
By Family in Effort to
Save Confessed Kidnaper
from [Electric Chair;
Court-Appointed Counsel
Through.
MIAMI, June 16, (PA
judge who called the kidnaping
of James Bailey Cash Jr., “The
most colkd-bleoded thing I ever
heard of” sentenced Franklin
Pierce McCall, who confessed it,
to the electric chair, today.
But an attorney retained by
McCall's family who said the
crime “showed & very amateur-
ish plan from beginning to end”
started a campeign for clem-
enoy.om the claim that Florida's
“Lindbergh Law” deereeing
death to kidnapers was not aim-
ed at criminals of McCall's cal-
iber.
The lawyer, C. A. Avriett of
Jasper, Fia.. McCall's birthplace,
left tonight to scek a special
session of the State Pardon
Board, composed of the gover-
nor and cabinet officials. He
dictated this statement, en be-
half of the family:
Fight for
of the State, in interpreting the
Kidnap statute, obeerved that
the intention of the Legislature
in ita enactment was to reach
a elass of predatory and arga-
niged criminals that have at-
tractéd national attention, and
fed thas the extreme penalty
ef death ought not be tmposed
under the cireumstances in this
case.”
tn
i
itt
af
Fs
A FLERE}
ae
Bila:
f Hi
F. si Silee
ci Upsets
THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jacksonville)
Friday,
17 June 1938,
page l.
~McCall’s
‘Life May Result in
lis Trial_for
ne ———
sf
i
ij
F
78
ee |
i
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aC
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ae a
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SER AERP E RTE
lian
{ial
lstifeentay
TUT
eae oa
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oe .
Pe
THE HFRAID, M
€
Bw
TAM!, FLORIDA
Gables Slayer
Electrocuted
| tie, Son en
| Frivel’ McLarén, convicted ja Cit:
eult court of the murder of Police
Sergt. 1). C. Barton of Coral Gables
jn June, 1938, was one of four men
electrocuted at the siete prison Mon-
day.
Ay wae the firat time electrocutions
have been conducted by an official
execulloner and the second ume
four men have peid the extreme
penalty in one day.
Remeron
/
The negro was coarged with kill- | near C
. u € . |
Panama Women V ote
| For Firat Time
PANAMA, Pansma, Oct. 6. (#-
| Wouren voied for we First dime in
Padang Mondsy in balloting for pro:
vincial legisintive: candidates — sat)
liheir presence bad a quieting effect |
on the ineu, Police, who usally flod |
pleniy to do of election day, report |
ed thie one passed wiitoat so mien |
eg fist fight Coming to thelr atten |
tion. |
ing the oral Gubles py. tale with- |
out provocation fp # uegre section
rinut Grove » |
nities
WENA T SN
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT DATA SHEET
Fie RiD
STATE
OFFENDER:
NAME; wll Mm “Co +
RACE: CS lac, 3
SEX: MOAT
OFFENSE: \U20¢ Se_
DATE EXECUTED: (ec. \St 19/!
county: PalaTka — Pulwan Co
AGE:
VICTIM: —
NAME:
RACE: ow Wo \AUw,
SEX: MWNON 4+ WOME)
AGE:
RELATIONSHIP
TO OFFENDER:
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION:
DATE CRIME ae Ook
COMMITTED: ©°™% * -
DATE OF
SENTENCING:
DAY OF THE
WEEK EXECUTED; ~@\°AG
OFFENDER
RESIDENCY:
MEDIA ACCOUNT
OF CRIME:
INVENTORY #
SOURCE OF DOCUMENTATION
(TITLE, DATE AND PAGE#)
‘TAm Tedbuwe
NAL NEWS;
2 SERVICE
st t Thing
Airplanes
Fool proof |
Neither Stall,
Nor Dive and
Land Itself, Is
™
IS MADE
NEW CRAFT
4
|
!
lanes, N. Yu. Designer)
Been Working om
hip Since 1913
t yest terday,
bite M madoa helt goxen |
nis and came to & Bent:
nding «ach time with the
bigh above his head.,
tgner is A Merrtt! of
ne, N. Y rmeriy fp
Aatanauty al reasearch at
raja tnetitute of gaat
a contemporary of a
others, Ockave
ley. Me Pocdag: =o og
foend\ ~
od
| witen which! enti beads
er an arc of 16 ~~
cret of the phaste’s ‘etme;
;
joe te te: Bee ee ae
owe $a * Eales 4 dy Grays cts hs
& | inne © ery leace a
pomrere
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA,
SLOT MACHINES
art Two of Assistant District Attorney J.
Léster Albertson's article on how they
are operated in Westchester county,
New York, will be found on page seven.
f
WConartyPay “two tamtuquanes Ex
Vinal Debt With “ys all ene phos Ott Safe Lack”
‘Lite At Prison: atic FAT arent
Shows No Sign “Of
Weakening as Time
Approached To En-
MIAMI MAN ADVANCES SCHEME TO SOLVE | ter Chair.
FLORIBA’S TAXATION PROBLEM WITH TAX r
ON 160,000 CANINES CLAIMED IN STATE SAYS “GOODBYE™
So ee er ta
beets ha eT
Relief Money F or.
two, Know os ;
so a
rd ~
by the farmer
Nae teeta hed
bs
ad
am
bs
| epuninitte pt
ek!
sla D el ee je pa
a
MEDIA ACCOUNT
OF TRIAL:
MEDIA ACCOUNT , pert 20
OF EXECUTION: une in, yore) MOD
METHOD: Frown’ TIME: a
PM ) 2-00
STAYS OF
EXECUTION:
EXECUTIONER:
WITNESSES: 2, SOO PTRSONYL Gorhe po Ko Wines
RITUALS :
LAST WORDS:
OTHER INFORMATION: (Doo \Wwrerny or Cola Hn
EPvoe You tent Nat Oe CEVSO NuUnG, loo Hh mel
WERE Conic OF che mvedrte 6 F tht:
EON | OREN, OSoeK MrA w eee lo lat .
FA se yp pe
shies MSiod
¢ Lee
‘and: that he was Se cling very stupid. This fact is borne out by
officer Page's testimony that when the warrant ‘was read to Mc-
inte nd to
| Kinney he said: "does that woman", meaning his wife,
Te ohh” fits dial Me
-kill me"? Bvidentiy the “drug was beginning oproduce an abnor-_.
i tus tae epplidagdon: of: G.0riow,
- and “when: ‘he: took another dose, a short time
‘ Ween teat ALY RE. er HS ba Spur Irs et CSPHE Whar
before ie homiotic wo feel justified in accepting: McKinney! 8
* dtis.
orgy
[m1 state. of nm
( proposition that he remembered nothing” of the homiotde whateo- .
ak sh, of Ui ONG LPOG Gig C4:
Bosaved “7 2 GMT
“ever. The State worked hard ‘to overthrow ‘thi iavcgtis proposi-
; ‘, Me r of CLC. waht dy bY ashe
yseane Lt: ee nett it > a ’
tion, but ado craing ‘to our’ Concept
Philed $3 do 80.
tomas
athe
ion of “the matter it hte A
fn Dale
Gert
i
$353 fad *
sh
As near as we can Judge from Makiniey'e ¢ de~
no “gy .
scription’ of the drug and its effect ‘upon him, we fe
id we
the’ ‘poison used was cocaine.
That he was “ieee the ‘ingiuence ae
¢: ars
Pi Oa °
x4
ik
el sure ‘that
‘ ras ee :
ee
iy ‘ :
RE BI: AA by
hed) Nea 3 eg
* _ cuem i
oct aaa | Rae
Cee ts a
‘ a 8
song powerful narcotic was shown. by his “acts subsequent to the .
homicide: When the poss ee got after him he fired ‘his. pistol ‘te |
1 td ee we Obs tT} 7
3,4 4 id Ob ts
aa aimless sort of way and instead of Ponnate away when..the gun .
‘ the Board of Lardgngccon tag.
’
aera
piibttes -melked, Like padazed, meeps pave Does es) REALS oe
r ia “wag “shot. down and desperately wounded. When. he: regained cons—
ve BN te
me art ~ Mee et +.
ty. vail, ant on account of his weakness and ipain’
euaace, witoh was several. days a arse frees in the Coun-
ww mes one 0 ae ia Oe ne ee
the bullets, he thought he was ina hospital.
This in brief is the main gist of tha daeta in the cage
[out because the evidence was not incorporated. bhi the bill of
EtAad t.
the Supreme Court could ‘Hot” “accord. ie
i vee
exceptions, gloge seru-
We can now only appeal to this’ Honorable
———a
tiny baa 'g deserved.
Board for a commutation of Sentence to life imprisonment on the
well kmown proposition of law,that the death penalty cannot at-—
tach to a man who was so intoxicated that he did not know what
he was doing, nor to one who was So incapacitated mentally by
ithe use of drugs as to be unconscious of his acts. We feel jus-—
té ‘ied therefore in praying this Honorable Boara to commte the
sata pentbige as asked for in our application and urge same be-
cause of our sincere belief that C.C.McKinney could not be guil-
ty, under the circumstances, of murder in the firat de gree.
Very respectfully submitted,
(SE Te em
occasioned by |
| ATTORNEYS YOR APPLICANT Spricinnd.
r
McKINNEY, Clarence
> McKINNEY v. STATE.
wme Court of Florida. July 2, 1917.)
~ (Byllabus by the Court.)
AL LAw €=°804(1), 1091(12)—TRIAL
{SSTRUCTIONS.
c to the jury in a capital case are re-
by the statute to be wholly in writing,
when signed by the trial judge and filed be-
ain of the record, and need not be incor-
in a bill of exceptions.
| Note—For other cases, see Criminal
eOent. Dig. §§ 1948, 1951, 2831.)
Meorvat Law €1056(1) — Tria — In-
PCTIONS, «
mested charges, which are denied, should
med by the trial judge and filed; and if it
: 1 to have the refusal to give the par-
charge reviewed, exception should be
faken at the time to such refusal to give
ested instruction,
| Note, —For other cases, see Criminal
Ce nt, Dig. §§ 2668, 2676.]
muna, LAW @=-1122(3)—APPEAL—QUES-
ays PRESENTED FOR REVIEW.
i charges to the jury are attacked in
as being inapplicable. to the evidence,
jence adduced at the trial must be con-
din the bill of exceptions.
.Note—For other cases, see Criminal
Cer t. Dig. § 2941.)
banat Law @=-1105(1)—Aprratr—ReEc-
A statement, entitled “Report of the Testi-
and Proceedings Had at the Trial,’’ which
witached to the bill of exceptions, but not
Weaticated by the certificate of the trial
‘ts required by the statute and the rules
cannot be considered by this court.
Note—For other cases, see Criminal
od Dent, Dig. § 2887.]
P prwaL LAW @=>1141(2) — AppraL — Er-
‘Mis the duty of a party resorting to an ap-
court for the correction of errors al-
fo have occurred at the trial to make the
we apparent.
Note—For other cases, see Criminal
im, Cent. Dig. §§ 3014, 3020, 3022, 3023.]
NAL, Law ¢=1169(1) — APPEAL —
s Error.
@ assignment of error based upon the ad-
mm of certain evidence will not be sustain-
a it is made to appear that the evi-
was erroneously admitted and harmful to
pmarty against whom it was received.
Note—For other cases, see Criminal
mt. Dig. §§ 8130, 3137.]
mn at Law @=820(1) — Trrar, — In-
sited. instructions, substantially cover-
ig the court’s general charge, are properly
& Note—For other cases, see Criminal
Cent Dig. § 2011.]
. to Circuit Court, Dade County; H.
We Branning, Judge.
a McKinney was convicted of murder,
it brings error. Affirmed.
weney & Penney, of Miami, for plaintiff
om, T. F. West, Atty. Gen. and C. O.
ews, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
on December
siege een pris tattc8 STE kines ie aah fat teat Deed
Florida,
D. bl, ligt ed Miami,
7, 1917
MoKINNEY vy. STATE 833
ELLIS, J. The plaintiff in error was con-
victed in the circuit court for Dade county
of the murder of James Bolton, and sentenced
to death. The case is brought here by writ of
error.
The transcript of the record which was
filed in this court upon the return of the writ
did not show that the defendant below had
been arraigned, or had pleaded to the in-
dictment, or that any judgment had been
entered in the case.
On the 24th of April, seven days after the
return day of the writ of error, a certified
copy of the judgment and sentence in the
case was filed in this court, and on the 23d
day of May of this year, more than one month
after the return day of the writ, “a true and
correct copy of excerpts from the minutes”
of the circuit court in the case was filed,
which shows that the defendant was ar-
raigned and pleaded not guilty to the indict-
ment, that a jury was impaneled and sworn,
and the verdict and judgment,
[1-3] There are 10 assignments of error,
but all of them are based upon errors alleged
to have occurred at the trial, including er-
rors alleged to have been committed by the
court in giving certain charges to the jury
and refusing others requested by the de-
fendant. While, under the statute, charges
in a capital case are required to be wholly in
writing, and when signed by the judge and
filed become part of the record in the case
(Morrison vy. State, 42 Fla. 149, 28 South. 97;
sections 3990 and 1499, Gen. Stats. of Florida
1906, and Florida Compiled Laws 1914), and
need not, therefore, be incorporated in the
bill of exceptions, charges which the defend-
ant requests to be given, but which are re-
fused, should also be signed by the judge and
exception duly taken to the refusal to give
each one, if it is desired to have the refusal
to give them reviewed. See Colson v. State,
51 Fla. 19, 40 South. 188; Savannah, F. &
W. R. Co. v. Brink, 44 Fla. 713, 83 South.
245. In this case no exception appears to
have been taken to the refusal to give the
requested instruction numbered 3. Excep-
tion, however, was taken to the refusal to
give requested instruction numbered 4. When
charges are criticized as being inapplicable
to the evidence, the evidence must be contain-
ed in the bill of exceptions; otherwise this
court cannot know and be informed whether
the criticism be well founded or not. In this
transcript the evidence taken at the trial is
not included in the bill of exceptions. There
is contained in the transcript a copy of what
is called a “Report of the Testimony and
Proceedings Had at the Trial of Said Cause
on the 17th Day of January, 1917.” It is un-
authenticated by the certificate or signature
of the trial judge as required by the statutes
of Florida and the rules of this court (see
section 1694, Gen. Stats. 1906, and Florida
Compiled Laws 1914; rules 97, 98, 103, Cir-
euit Court Law Actions), and cannot, there-
For other cases see same topic and KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes
Pree eran
334
fore, be considered by this court (see Frisbee
y. Timanus, 12 Fla. 587; Gallaher v. State,
17 Ma. 870; Burroughs V. State, 17 Fla. 643;
Waddell v. Cunningham, 27 Fla. 477, 8 South.
643; Brown V. State, 29 Fla. 548, 10 South.
736; Reeves v. State, 29 Fla. 527, 10 South.
901; Bacon v. Green, 36 Fla. 325, 18 South.
870). It would seem that the duty of the
party resorting to an appellate court, for the
correction of alleged errors at the trial, to
make the errors apparent, is almost seltf-
evident. It is certainly a very reasonable,
simple, and common-sense proposition, and
should commend itself to any one intrusted
with business before the courts. This court
has in a number of cases said that such was
the duty of one who seeks to overcome in an
appellate court the presumably eorrect judg-
ment of a trial court. See Clinton v. State,
53 Fla. 98, 43 South. $12, 12 Ann. Cas. 150,
and cases therein cited.
[4-7] There is included is the bill of ex-
ceptions a statement to the effect that during
the trial the state produced and offered in
evidence “a certain prescription in which
morphine was prescribed for one Clarence
McKinney.” To the introduction of this pre-
scription in evidence the defendant objected,
and the objection was overruled. That rul-
ing of the court was made the basis of the
fourth assignment of error. It also appears
from the bill of exceptions that the state
produced a witness named “EP, L. George, who
testified that he filled the prescription here-
tofore mentioned, and that the prescription,
when filled, was sent to the county jail for
Clarence McKinney” ;
not testify that Clarence McKinney and ©.
G. McKinney were one and the same person.
Thereupon
ment of error.
broader than the motion,
No error appears to haye
important and
nothing to show
son. The fact that the
the contrary to be true.
ments of error. should fail because,
absence of
defendant,
obtains.
716 SOUTHERN REPORTER
but the witness could
defendant’s counsel moved to
strike the testimony of the witness George,
The court overruled the motion, and the
ruling is made the pasis of the fifth assign-
The. assignment is much
as it includes a mo-
tion to strike the prescription from the files.
been made by the
court in either ruling. The evidence may
have developed many reasons why the ad-
ministering of morphine to the defendant
after his arrest and incarceration was an
relevant fact, and there is
that Clarence McKinney and
the defendant were not one and the same per-
witness George did
not know that Clarence and C, C. McKinney
were one and the same person dia not show
‘These two assign-
in the
any showing that the evidence
was incorrectly admitted and harmful to the
the presumption which exists in
favor of the correctness of the court’s ruling
See Clements v. State, 51 Pla. 6,
(Fla.
vy. Budge, 56 Fla. 342, 47 South. 825; Lewis
y. State, 55 Pla. 54, 45 South. 998.
In view of the character of this case, the
serious consequences to the defendant of a
conviction of murder without recommenda-
tion to mercy, we have, notwithstanding the
failure of counsel to present in the transcript
a complete bill of exceptions, examined the
statement purporting to be a report of the
testimony, and read the charges given at
request of the defendant and those refused,
as well as the court’s general charge; but
we find no reason in law for disturbing the
jury’s verdict. The charges numbered 3 and
4, which were requested to be given by the
defendant and refused, were sufficiently
covered in substance by the court’s general
charge. The jury were fully instructed that
the burden of proving every material allegae —
tion contained in the indictment was upon =
the state; that the presumption of innocence
followed the defendant through every stage
of the trial; that the jury should try the de
fendant fairly, dispassionately, calmly, and
according to the evidence; and that there
were no presumptions against him. This
court has many times held that it is not er
ror for the court to refuse to read charges
already given substantially. See Sherman ¥,
State, 17 Fla. 888; Butler v. State, 35 Via _
246, 17 South. 551; Driggers v. State, 88 Fla.
7, 20 South. 758; Sylvester v. State, 46 Fla,
166, 35 South, 142; “Hoskins v. State, 70 Fila.
186, 69 South. 701; Fine v. State, 70 Fla.
412, 70 South. 379, The charges given, Col
sidered with reference to the evidence ws 4
shown in the statement referred to, appear a
to be without harmful or prejudicial error,
The judgment of the court is therefore af
firmed. “
BROWNE, ©. J., and TAYLOR, SHACKLE "
FORD, and WHITFIELD, J J., concur.
(14 Fla, 4)
. SMITH v, STATE, _,
(Supreme Court of Florida, July 2, 1917
(Syllabus by the Court.)
1. CrrminaL LAW 6=2719(1)—TRIAL—Anav> %
MENT OF COUNSEL. 4
In. criminal prosecutions, while a wide
latitude should be allowed to the respective
counsel in their argument to the jury, no coun ©
sel should be permitted to constitute himself an ©
unsworn witness in his argument, and to state |
as facts matters of which there is no testimony. |
[Kd. Note—TFor_ other ‘cases, see Criminal —
Law, Cent. Dig. § 1669.] a
2, EMBEZZLEMENT @14-— OFFENSES
FENSE. . ; i
The fact that an agent 1s entitled to Te
tain as his compensation a certain percentage
of a fund collected for his principal does no
(ng
a
-_ De ie
\ g
40 South. 4382;
Southern Home Ins. Co. V.
Putnal, 57 Wa. 199, 49 South. 922; Hainlin
out of the operation
ishment for ‘an agent who shall: convert to
@ For other cases see same topic and KH
Y-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes '
— = we mote
Na pan! Sete om ee A
rt ee ee eet
Pr eel
Poe ee ee ae ee
McLAREN, Frizell, black, electrocuted Florida (Dade) on 10-6-1941,.
" Frizell McLaren, convicted in Circuit Court of the murder of Police
Sergt. H, 0. Barton of Coral Gables in June, 1938, was one of four men
elecgrocuted at the state prison Monday. It was the first time elec-
trocutions have been conducted by an official executioner and the second
time four men have paid the: extreme penalty in one day. The negro was
charged with killing the Coral Gables policeman without provocation
near Coconut Grove, HERALD, Miami, Florida, Oct 6, 1941,
EF
th
offers
More
Her
readin;
plete ¢
you ca
can me
enjoy 1
Wha
Hea:
of hurr
men an
is the ¢
At n
nervou
among
ern, raj
ditions
overtax
The
many.
ing of g
tion of 1
dyspeps
Thes
unsounc¢
ger sigt
most se jj’
all inh
down bi
Many
der the
persona
guish si
a defini:
vous w
feminine
piness ir
ing over
fies this
of huma
conditior
barrier i
cess. Tl
and the:
despond
Yet, «
work o
i 2
ead True Detective Mysteries
At exactly midnight, carrying the package of money under
his arm, he stepped from his home and entered his auto-
mobile. To those who crowded around him he said:
“Please do not try to follow me. My little boy’s life depends
upon delivery of the money. The kidnapers must feel safe.”
He drove away rapidly, peering back to make sure he was
not followed. Then he took the first oil road to the left’ and
was lost to view.
As the tail light of his car disappeared the neighbors dis-
cussed the case openly, realizing that the zero hour had come
and that need for secrecy no longer existed. Within a few
minutes, nearly 500 persons were congregated around the
filling station. Broadcasting units moved in and engineers
worked rapidly getting apparatus ready for the expected
break. Photographers stood ready to train their cameras on
little Skeegie should he return with his father.
A number of young men sat on the doorstep of the W. P.
Cash filling station talking about the case. Attendant Harry
Wright was convinced that the
kidnaping had been staged by a
native of Princeton.
“It had to be someone who
lives here,” he declared em-
phatically. “A stranger would
not know these roads and it was
no outsider who drew that map.
For all we know the kidnapers
could be right here at this
minute. They’ll-be trapped like
rats when those G-men get to
work.”
“J don’t know about that,”
drawled Wright’s companion,
Franklin McCall, who sat on the
step beside him. “The fellows
who: pulled this job were pretty
smart. I doubt if they will ever
be caught.”
Diagram of the kidnap scene, with inset photos
showing field headquarters of the FBI (above),
home of the kidnaper (circle above), and a re-
porter pointing to the spot where Director
Hoover came to the end of the tragic hunt for
Jimmy Cash. (Far right) The grief-stricken
parents, Mr. and Mrs. James B. Cash, Sr.
“All kidnapers are caught sooner or later,” responded
Wright as he walked away over to Jim Cash’s store.
He was still there a few minutes later when McCall, driving
a light truck, hailed him.
“Hey, Harry,” he shouted; “have you got the key to the
station? I gotta get three gallons of gas for the truck.”
“Yeah,” muttered Wright as he boarded the truck.
“Any thing new?” queried McCall.
“Naw,” replied Wright. “Mr. Cash is out trying to deliver
the money. I’d like to get my hands on the louse that pulled
this job.”
“Me, too,” said McCall spiritedly. “I used to live upstairs
over the store, you know. I loved that little kid. He used to
call me ‘Preacher Boy’ on account of my father. being a
preacher.”
“Yeah,” said Wright, “I. remember.”
“Who's that?” queried McCall suddenly as the truck
arrived at Wilson Cash’s filling station.
“Who’s what?” asked Wright.
“T don’t see anyone.”
“I saw some one near the
door,” answered McCall. “I
think he sneaked around the
back.”
“Aw, you're seeing things,”
said Wright, jumping off the
truck.
“No, I’m not,” retorted Mc-
Call, walking toward the back
of the station. “I saw a shadow
going back this way.”
“Well, whoever it was isn’t
here now,” answered Wright as
he opened the door.
“Hey, -what’s this?” cried
McCall as he reached the door
and picked up a piece of brown
paper partially concealed by
ATLANTIC
W. P. Ca FILLING
STATION. THIRD
RANSOM NOTE |
sf HERE
HAL RELAUGHEN GARAGE
$245.0 F RANSOM O
REC OVERED IN OlL DRUNI
4
oe RI
: Pes: wit Sg RO:
Wes Pere ey Leap [ie ae pea Wioaka A e Pa es
ge Ss
be
esponded
L, driving
‘y to the
ck.”
ck.
to deliver
iat pulled
e upstairs
ie used to
’ being a
the truck
od Wright.
near the
eCall. “I
round the
g things,”
ig off the
orted Mc-
{ the back
y a shadow
"was isn’t
Wright as
is?” eried
1 the door
e of brown
cealed by
/ ROAD
TAKEN.
|
Kidnaped!
the bottom of the door. He unfolded the heavy paper.
“Look,” he added, “it’s another ransom note.”
Wright peered-over McCall’s shoulder, saw that the note
was written on a piece of brown bag. It said:
Too many people. Take same-route at 4 A. M. but first
call in all spies, Put all notes in box with money. Light
will blink twice. :
i HAT shall we do?” whispered McCall.
“T don’t know,” replied Wright. “We can’t give it to
Mr. Cash because he is still trying to deliver the money.”
“Suppose we call ‘Shorty’ and,ask him What to do? You
know he is planted down there in Homestead to try to
identify the kidnapers if the ransom money happens to be
paid on that part of the route,” suggested McCall, referring
to Ormond “Shorty” Cash, son of Asbury and cousin of the
missing boy.
Soon Wright was telephoning “Shorty.” The latter advised
the boys to sit tight until he
arrived. He made the trip from
Homestead to Princeton in, sever .
minutes. He studied the note
carefully, then exclaimed:
“This was written by someone
who knows every detail of this
case, else how would he know
anything about spies?”
Neither Wright nor McCall
could answer “Shorty’s” question
and the three started out to in-
tercept Jim to inform him of the
third ransom note. They had
hardly started over the pay-off
route when they spied Jim.
Turning their car around they
overhauled him and gave him
the note. The father then re-
turned to the filling station.
[BOYS BODY
LF OUND HERE}
Be wey
ae
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|| IHOME_OF.
"INCIKIDNAPE RJ
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JOE HILLIAR
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| BAD HERE
~P \ CHARLES CHAMBERS
| HOME 8 GROVE.
9,750.RE COVERED
S 2
—£ OF ASBURY |
‘ASH. PIR? NOTE
FOUND-HE
Florida’s Jimmy Cash Horror 19
As he stepped from his car, the waiting throng realized that
the contact had failed. He still carried the ransom money
under his arm and refused to comment as he elbowed his way
to his home. Breaking the news to his wife was one of the
reatest ordeals of his life, but he offered her hope by telling
foe of the third note.
Interest sprang up among the spectators when McCall
told about finding the last note. The news spread rapidly
and many prepared to wait: until four o’clock.
At the new zero hour Cash again entered his automobile
and drove away. It had taken him one hour and thirty-five
minutes to cover the route the first time. He peered into the
“ darkness as he turned left at the Nazarene church and rode
over the first leg of his journey. Five minutes later he passed
the home of Asbury Cash and neared the intersection of
Tallahassee Road and Sunset Drive. He was driving exactly
twenty miles per hour as instructed in the note. Suddenly two
quick flashes of light came from (Continued on page 110)
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16 True Detective Mysteries
more thorough search, and proved again the room was empty.
“Did you hook the back door?” Jim asked. :
“Yes, I’m positive I did.” :
“You stay here while I run upstairs and see if he is there.
Tl be right back.” :
A moment later he was knocking at his neighbor’s door.
A feeling of apprehension struck him when he noted that
the lights were out and that the family had apparently gone
to bed.
i cE was hardly possible that they had taken the youngster in
for the night without consulting either Vera or himself.
His fears were soon confirmed when Mrs. G. T. Williams
told him that Skeegie was not there and that no one in the
family could remember having seen him since late afternoon.
She added that no unusual noises had been heard from the
lower apartment during the last hour.
Sensing for the first time that something was wrong, Cash
ran to the home of his brother Wilson, a block away. Joined
by four or five persons still abroad in the town, they imme-
diately made a search of the neighborhood. During these first
few moments Cash was convinced that Skeegie had only
wandered in his sleep.
As the minutes passed, the search spread and others joined
in the hunt. Mrs. Cash was frantic. She heard the voice of
her husband and the searchers outside. ;
“Have you found him?” she cried, running to the door.
“No,” answered Jim, “but there are lots of people help-
ing us.” :
Wilson. Cash, uncle of the boy, joined the group in front
of thé store and filling station.
“Maybe he went over to Asbury’s,” he suggested, meaning
the home of another uncle living a half mile away.
' “That’s right,” agreed Jim. “I never thought of that.”
“T’ll go over there,” said the uncle, and drove off in his car.
.At almost the same moment, Mrs. Beatrice Cash, wife of
Asbury, was returning to her home, where her husband was
asleep. As she took hold of the screen door her hand came in
contact with a crisp piece of paper attached to the door handle
with a rubber band. She was still fumbling with the door and
paper when Asbury, half asleep, turned on the living-room
lights. His wife removed the paper from the door handle and
stood reading it. For a moment she could not believe what
she saw.
“Skeegie has been kidnaped,” she muttered.
“What’s that?” queried Asbury, struggling into his trousers.
“The kidnaper’s note was on our door. How did it get
there?”
“On our door? There was nothing there when I went to
bed at 9:30. What does it say?”
Mrs. Cash handed the note to her husband. It was written
on an irregular shaped piece of paper such as is used to wrap
meat. It read:
If you have no note yet go to first nigger house on left on
first oil road south of Princeton and get note there.
Searchers in boats (left) explored
Florida keys, while others (right)
covered every foot of fields and
woods in the hunt for the victim
or a clue to his fate. (Below)
Sheriff D. C. Coleman (left) en-
ters FBI Headquarters with a
suspect, who later proved to be
the kidnaper. (Far right) FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover, flanked
by Inspector E. J. Connelley
(left) and Clyde Tolson, Hoov-
ers assistant, takes charge.
nneneseemncessiteti ate: te SCOTS SOOT,
See
seneresenionens nme Paneer
In the meantime, Wilson had arrived and the two brothers
quickly drove to the filling station with the kidnaper’s message.
“This will kill Vera,” grimly remarked Wilson. “Do you
suppose anything has happened to Skeegie?”
“I could strangle any man: who hurt that boy,” replied
Asbury fiercely. “I’m going to call the police.”
The brothers soon arrived at the filling station and broke
the news to Jim.
As he heard that his son was in the hands of kidnapers,
Jim Cash aged twenty years: Worried lines appeared on
his face; his shoulders sagged and when he faced the boy’s
mother he was unable to speak. :
Mrs. Cash fainted when she was told. Kindly neighbors
carried her into the house and called a physician.
A search of the home revealed a long ragged gash in the
wire of the screen door. Apparently it had been made to
permit the kidnaper to reach in and unlatch it. Survey of the
remainder of the house failed to reveal any other traces of
the intruder.
Jim and Asbury hurried to the negro house specified in
the note while Wilson remajned behind to telephone Constable
Joe Scaroborough at Homestead, six miles south of Princeton.
Before leaving for the scene of the kidnaping, Constable
Scaroborough telephoned Sheriff D. C. Coleman in Miami
who in turn notified Arthur Rutzen, Special Agent in charge
of the Miami Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Jim and Asbury found the negro cabin, usually occupied
by John Emanuel, deserted and, after a fruitless search for
another note, returned to Princeton. Once more they went
over the brief message from the kidnaper and then organized
a searching party of twenty-five to go back to the negro
shack. Aided by automobile headlights and flashlights, they
came across the second ransom note partially pushed under
the front door-step.
The note, similar to the first, was written on a ragged piece
of paper torn from a paper bag. It was accompanied by a
crude map. Attempts to decipher the writing in the glare of
the headlights failed. The entire party returned to Princeton,
where the note was taken into Jim’s store and finally read.
We have the child. You will follow these instructions.
Notify any officer, give serial number of any bill, fail to
burn this note and you won’t see him again. Place 500 $5
—100 $20—500 $10 & 10 $50 total $10,000 in a shoe box
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, fail to
: $00 $5
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Kidnaped! Florida’s Jimmy Cash Horror’
id
and take this route map shown here. Follow arrers. Use
old unmarked bills with serial numbers not running in order.
Leave Princeton at exactly midnight Monday. ‘Take first
Oil Rd. to left, continue to Moody Dr. Turn left go to
Allapattah Dr. Turn right to Myra St. Then to Home-
stead. Go 20 MPH full route. At some point in route
light will flash two times. Stop place box on right side of
road then proceed full route. The child will be released in
a few hours if all instructions are followed and no one noti-
fied. Give bearer of this note $5—then step in front of
place and burn it. Any slip up and you won’t see him again.
Jim Cash made every effort to comply with the kid.
naper’s demands. As he pretended to burn the note in
front of the filling station, he told searchers to. return to their
homes. He was too late, however—the alarm had been given,
and Constable Scaroborough was already in Princeton with
Deputy Sheriff Tom Vann, Redlands’ veteran peace officer,
while Sheriff Coleman and FBI agents were on the way.
News of the kidnaping filtered into Miami. Newspapers
were ready to issue extras and Miami’s two radio stations
prepared to flash the news. Before either step was taken,
however, Special Agent Arthur Rutzen appealed to news-
paper publishers and broadcasting officials to refrain from
“breaking” the story until the frantic father had been given
an opportunity to meet the demands of the kidnapers. -
“The boy’s father thinks he has a chance of getting his son
back alive,” Rutzen told the publishers, “and thinks that any
publicity may scare them and cause them to harm the boy.”
Newspapers and radio stations agreed to hold the story
until they received permission from Rutzen: to break it.
At the stricken home, the father sat at the bedside of
his sobbing wife trying to assure her that the boy would be .
returned unharmed upon payment of the ransom. Mrs. Cash
found some solace in his words because she knew that Jim
would gladly spend his last dollar to buy his son’s freedom.
Although the newspapers had no intention or thought of
breaking faith with Rutzen, newspapermen started arriving °
in Princeton at daylight Sunday.
assure the kidnapers that the alarm had not been given, was
going about his duties as usual. The riders whispered to
Cash as he wiped windshields or pretended to make change,
then sped away. Newspaper men, keeping alert eyes on the
filling station, recognized many of these fleeting strangers as ©
FBI agents. The G-men were on the job.
about the streets of Princeton. Any stranger would have
known instantly that something unusual was in the air by
the grim faces and anxious expressions.
Sympathetic neighbors visited Mrs. Cash during the day,
but the missing boy’s parents were left alone when darkness,
fell. That night the parents placed a lamp in the window.
Monday, May 30th, was a national holiday, but there was
no rest in the FBI offices atop the Biscayne Building in
i
A H i
+2 bof ee
i
Miami, as special agents, working rapidly and tirelessly,
struggled with a pile of currency on their desks. Serial num-
bers were carefully recorded against that time when, if the
ransom actually was paid, the kidnaper would attempt to
pass the currency. At the same time the two ransom notes
were painstakingly photographed. act
In another room, Special Agent Rutzen talked over the
long distance telephone to Director J. Edgar Hoover in
Washington Headquarters. A dozen agents attached to the
Miami office and on forced leave due to curtailment of the
FBI budget, were hastily summoned and ordered to report
for duty. In New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville and Charles-
ton other agents packed bags and scanned airway schedules
ready to move the’ instant the command went out from the
top G-man in Washington. :
A block away from FBI Headquarters, Sheriff D. C. Cole-
man discussed the case with twenty deputies. Coleman, a
veteran law enforcement officer, prepared to crack down the
moment little Skeegie was safe.
Chief of Police H. Leslie Quigg of Miami put two-way
radio patrol cars at the disposal of the FBI and Sheriff's
office, and pledged full cooperation. But neither the FBI nor
Sheriff’s office did anything to jeopardize the life of the
victim. ;
The ransom money, fully marked, reached Jim Cash during
the afternoon, and was placed in a shoe box together
with the ransom notes and wrapped in an old newspaper
ready for delivery at midnight. Shortly before nightfall,
Monday, mobile units from the two Miami broadcasting
stations .cruised in the vicinity of Princeton ready to break
the story the moment the boy was returned, and additional
newspaper men were sent into the area.
Early in the evening, Jim Cash appeared briefly in front
of his filling station.and was immediately surrounded by eager
persons anxious to know the details of the crime.
“I am going to pay the ransom money exactly as -de-
manded,” he said. “The law enforcement officials were called
into the case before I could stop them, but the kidnapers
need have no fear. They are safe to receive the money and
deliver the boy.” ee
He was making a desperate effort to assure the kidnapers
that the officers would take no action until the ransom had
been paid.
17
RGN
4.
610 Fila. 185 SOUTHERN REPORTER
It was locked. I didn’t know it would be
locked at the time I went there, but it was,
I cut the screen with my knife ; the knife
that was in Court this morning.
“QO. I hand you state’s Exhibit 12 and
ask you is that the knife?
“A. That is it.
“Q. All right. Go ahead.
“A. I had two large white pocket hand-
kerchiefs with me, and I took these out
of my pocket as I came into the back hall,
and went on up the hall to the left into
the door of Mr. and Mrs. Cash’s apart-
ment. The door coming in from the rear
opens to the bedroom. I picked Skeegie
up in my right arm and placed—
“Q. Now, that is James Bailey Cash,
Jr., you refer to:
“A. Yes, sir. Placed the two large
white clean handkerchiefs over his face.
“Q. Now just a moment there. Ex-
plain how you picked him up. IHustrate
with your arms, how you held him.
“A. In my right arm.
“Q. How did you hold him, around the
body or under the arm?
“A. Around the body.
“Q. Did you hold him up to you?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. Just held him up. about this way?
“A. Yes sir.
“Q. All right.
“A. Went out the back door, and he
appeared to be sleeping, and just as you
pick one out of the car or something, and
he is asleep, and carry him in and put
him to bed. As I got out the back door,
I carried him in both arms and held the
handkerchiefs over his mouth—I guess
over his nose. Then I didn’t know it. I
walked across Coconut Palm Drive and in
through the woods to my house. It was
dark there and I came in through the back
door into the bedroom, and placed Skeegie
on the bed and shook him to wake him up;
called his name and he didn’t answer. [
tried—then I knew something was the
matter with him. I knew he was uncon-
scious. I tried artificial respiration. [
had heard of people that was unconscious
could be brought back to consciousness
that way, I tried this and I run to the
frigidaire, and got some cold water that
was there, with a towel, and bathed his
face and hands with the cold water, and
he still didn’t wake up, and I knew he was
dead.
“The Court: That was a wet towel?
“The witness: Yes, sir.
“Q. (By Mr. Kehoe) Now, from the
time you went into the Cash residence to
the time you got to vour home and applied
this artificial respiration, did young Cash
make any outcry?
“A. No; I thought he was asleep. He
didn’t struggle or move at all.
“Q. All right. Go ahead.
“A. And I saw that he was dead. I
didn’t know what to do. Didn't know
where to go or anything. I picked him
up in my arms and started out the back
door, running across the woods. When I
started I didn’t have any particular place
to go in mind. I went straight from the
rear of my house across the woods, crossed
Bayview Drive, and on down to the thick
place where he was found.
“OQ. How far was that thick place
where he was found from your home? .
“A. Not a quarter of a-mile, I don’t.
believe.
“Q. Not a quarter of a mile?
“A. Not over that.
“QO. All right. Go ahead.
“A. I placed him in the position in which
he was found, his arms aside of his body
by the pine tree that was there. Came
back home. I didn’t hardly know what to
do. I walked down to John’s house and
left the first note. From there I came
back to the house.
“Q. Now, when did you get the first
note out of your house?
“AX. After I came back.
“Q. After you had taken the body to
the place where it was found you went
back to your house?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. Then got the note?
“A. Yes sir.
“Q. All right. Go ahead.
“A. Came back to my house and printed
the second note, which was the first note
that was found. I walked to R. A. Cash’s
house, about 50 yards from my house, and
placed it in the handle of the front screen
door. Then came back home.
“Q. Now, what time was that, if you
know ?
“A. I don’t know. It was all hazy.
Then in a few minutes, very few minutes,
a stream of cars came south on Tallahassee
Road going to John Emanuel’s house, and
wet towel?
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ash residence to
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did young Cash
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home.
was that, if you
It ; all hazy.
v ew minutes,
u—4n Tallahassee
ianuel’s house, and
McCALL v. STATE Fla. 611
185 So.
in a very few minutes they came back
going north to Princeton. I had slipped
off my boots before this at home. I pulled
them back on and started towards Prince-
ton, and stopped at R. A. Cash’s house just
long enough to see the son’s car was not
there, and then walked on towards Prince-
ton. I had not gone very far before I
met the cars coming back. Ishmal was
in the lead. He picked me up. We went
back down with the rest of the crowd
to John Emanuel’s house, where the note
was found. It was the second note found,
but the first one that was written. The
note could not be read very well with the
car light, so it was suggested that they
go back to Princeton and read it at the
station there. This was done, and after
several had gone into the filling station,
the office of the filling station, to read this
note, someone, I don’t remember who, came
out and said that the note had been dis-
ciphered and the best. thing to do was for
everybody to go home. Ishmal and I rode
through the Redlands, different roads, I
don’t remember which ones, until around
three in the morning. We came back to
Howard McLaughlin’s house, and I spent
the rest of the might there. Is that as
far as you want me to go?
“OQ. Then what did you do the following
day? That would be Sunday—during the
day time.
“A, Sunday I had dinner at my father-
in-law’s and spent the rest of the after-
noon around Princeton. Sunday night I
was with Donald Cooper.
“Q. And Monday, during the day time,
what did you do?
“A. I thought that I flew with Ishmal
Cash that afternoon, but I think in the
statement that he gave the F. B. I. he said
that was Tuesday, Monday, I don’t re-
member.
“OQ. Now, the third note that was found,
Which has been introduced as State’s Ex-
hibit 7 and 8, what time of the night did
you place those at the Cash Filling station?
“A. Between 12:30 and 1 o’clock.
“QO. At night?
“A. Yes sir.
“Q, Now, prior to the time of placing
that note, did you see Mr. J. B. Cash,
Sr.?
“A TI had seen him at 12 o’clock when
he left on the first trip.
“Q. And how soon after you saw him
leave did you place this third note, State’s
Exhibit 7 and 8?
“A. I don’t remember whether it was
placed just prior—I think it was—to his
leaving.
“Q. Just prior to his leaving on this
first attempt to make contract?
“A. It was placed, I believe, before 12
o’clock.
“Q. What were you doing at the time
that he went out on this first trip?
“A JT was at Smitty’s barbecue stand,
talking to Robert Smith—Smitty’s brother.
“Q. Now, tell about the things leading
up to the placing of this note and how you
placed that.
“A, Sometime Monday, I had printed
the third note, and had it in my watch
pocket, and Monday night, right after 11
o’clock I was at Howard McLaugialin’s
-house. -I printed the note on the brown
paper then from the scratch pad, and
Harry and I had gone over to the station
to call up Shorty Cash, and when we cane
back outside, that is when the note was
pushed under the door.
“Q, Explain how you got the note under
the door.
“\ We were both sitting outside the
station door; very dark. The note was
placed in the crack under the door and
I pushed it under with my comb.
“OQ, And who was with you at that
time ?
“A. Harry Wright.
“QO, Now, what did you do atter placing
this note under the door?
“A, We went to Smitty's.
“QO. That is the —
“4. Barbecue stand.
“QO. Barbecue stand. That is you and
Harry Wright?
“A, Yes.
“QO. And how long did you stay there?
“A. I don’t remember.
“O. Now, did you see Mr. Cash, Senior,
return from this trip?
“AS. We saw him return, but we had al-
ready found the note and were in George
Cooper’s car when he returned.
“Q. Explain the manner in which the
note, third note, was found.
“A. Went over to the station to get
three gallons of gas; pickup truck. Harry
saN bt vd. 4
612 Fla. 185 SOUTHERN REPORTER
and I went im the station first to turn
on the power for the pumps and the lights
inside. The door was open just enough
to let us go in single file. After we put
the gas in and went back into the station
to turn off the power to the pumps, the
door was swung wide open, and then the
note came clear of the bottom of the door
and I picked it up.
“Q. Did you at that time show the note
and look at it and read the note with this
Harry Wright?
“A. Yes sir.
“Q. Then what did you do with reference
to the note?
“A. He called Ormond Cash at Home-
stead and told him if any of the fellows
that were down there on stands to have
them come up there at once, and Shorty
came up followed by George Cooper in
his car. We all got in George's car and
went down Coconut Palm Drive, that rock
road .that turns north off Coconut Palm
Drive, and we all read the note and came
back to Princeton. As we were coming
into Princeton we met Bailey going north
on the Federal Highway. Turned around
and chased him about a quarter of a mile
and blinked the lights and caught up with
him and gave him the note.
“Q. Do you know of your own knowl-
edge what he did with the note?
“A. No sir.
“Q. Were you questioned by anyone in
reference to that note in Princeton?
“A. Two Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion men questioned both Harry and my-
self after we came back to Princeton.
“Q. And that was after you had given
it to Bailey Cash, Senior?
“A. That is right.
“Q. Now, approximately what time was
it that you caught up with Mr. Cash,
Senior, and gave him this third note?
“A. Between 12:30 and 1 o'clock, 1
think.
“Q. Between 12:30 and 1. Then what
did you do from one o’clock until four
o’clock?
“A. At 2:30 [left Princeton in the pick-
up ahead of Donald Cooper and Harold
McLaughlin. They were following in
Harold’s Plymouth. They passed me
around the Log Cabin on the Federal High-
way. I returned to my father-in-law’s
house and woke him up and told him about
finding the note, and I believe at that time
asked. him did he want to go out to Krome
Avenue. There was several different
groups of cars at different sections of the
country down there, hidden, that were tak-
ing license tag numbers and watching for
any suspicious movements; and I believe
at that time I asked him did he want to go
on such a stand with me.
“Q. And then explain what you did later
in the evening that night.
“A. That was around 3 o’clock. I stay-
ed in the pickup truck that was parked in
his driveway for a few minutes. I don’t
know how long, and went east on Sun-
set Drive to the grove in front of John
Chamber’s place, went into this grove for
50 yards or more and then east again
towards Tallahassee Road. At about the
third or fourth row of trees then and
three or four rows back I stopped and
Waited.
“Q..What were you waiting for?
“A. Mr. Cash.
“Q. Did you see him coming?
“A. I saw him coming but I didn’t know
it was him until he was almost by, and I
flashed the light twice.
“OQ. How did you recognize him?
“A. When he came even with me I recog-
nized him then.
“Q. Did you recognize him or his car?
“A. His car, not him.
“Q. Upon recognizing him, what did you
do?
“A. Flashed the light twice.
“Q. Is that the flashlight that has been
oftered here in evidence? You saw it this
morning,
“A. Yes.
“QO. And what did Mr. Cash do?
“A. Stopped and got out, went in front
of his car, threw the money that was in
the shoebox down at the base of a tele-
phone pole that was at the corner of John
William Campbell's property.
“Q, And that was approximately at four
o'clock Tuesday morning ?
“A. As near as I could tell. I didn't
have a watch.
“QO, And how far were vou from Mr.
Cash when he placed the money in the box
there at this place you speak of?
“A. Around 30 yards or further.
“QO. Did you speak to Mr. Cash?
“A. No sir.
_ ———— OO
e
FRANKLIN PIERCE McCALL (James B, Cash, Jre, Kidnapping)
(Florida)
"At 9:30 PM on May 28, the blonde 5-yeareold cyclist sobbed a &&
little when his mother kissed him "good nights! ‘Mommie, please
donét put me to bed,! he said, ‘'Itm afraid,! Barely an hour later,
while his parents were checking receiptex in their filling station
off the Miami-Key West Highway, James Bailey Cash, Jr., of Princeton,
Fia., was snatched from his bed and engulfed in the darkness of the
Surrounding Everglades,
"eccveeThe fate of little James Cash was still in doubt June $,
six days after a $10,000 ransom had been paid, Meanwhile, J. Edgar
Hoover's G=men, local Police and 3,200 civilians Combed the swampland:
in tthe greatest manhunt ever seen in Florfdda,!*
LIFE MAGAZINE, June 13, 1938, page 9.
Wm oan aren es en
"eeoeeon June 8 the corpse of blonde S~-year=old James Be Cash,
Ure, was found in a thicket a half mile from the Princeton, FAa,.
home whence he had been abducted 11 days before, G-=Men under Chief
Je Edgar Hoover swiftly captured and wrung @ confession from Franklin
Pierce McCall, 21, who admitted that the child was dead before he
attempted to collect the $10,000 ransom. The ransom was recovered
LIFE MAGAZINE, June 20, 1938, page ll.
ee LO Wee | i“
7 ‘OR weOrece Ue,
Wey OC WOLPOLIA > “ and
| di\ hed @ * Pe
ee : RU DANOUWN, 0 1951
rj WALLEY, Nive WY ,
MIC DU UNGs Ll 9 . : LA j “9
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FL3P (Bradford). Janv
elec. FL3P (Brad
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nville)
FLORIDA TIMES-UNION (Jackso
THE
age 6.
Tuesday, 9 January 1951, pag
Storekeeper
Killers Are
E lectrocuted
RAIFORD Jan. g '‘M—The State
electrocuted three Negroes today
for murdering a Starke Storekeeper
last Mav:
Officers Said two Of them alse
confessed killings in Columbus and
Augusta Ga.
OF relatives. State Prison Farm
Superintenden; WwW. L. Chapman
Said. and so they were Ordered
22; LD. Robinson 46, and George
Wolfork Jr, 28. They were cone
victed of shooting Dave Silcox dure
Ing a robbery aitempr.
MCDONALD, Preston & wiLLiams, iter, blucks, elec. FL3lI
(Duval) July 19, 1937
a : .
|__AB FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, TUESDAY, JULY 20, 1937.
——
page 17 “-|Two Negroes |
f Electrocuted
One Admits Crime of! ©
Which He Was Not
Suspected.
RAIPORD, July 19, :\—A negro
within one minute of eternity today
confessed the crime for which he
was about to die and told of an-
other killing of which he was not
suspected.
He and a companion were elec-
trocuted at the Florida State Pris-
on for the slaying of a negro taxi-
cab driver in Jacksonville.
Preston McDonald was led to the
chair first. He was strapped in at
8:40 A. M.. and four minutes later
Was pronounced dead. |
Then Walter WilHams was
brought into the death chamber.
Given the customary opportunity
for a last statement. Williams tre-
mulously advised his listeners to
avoid “bad habits.”
“Bad habits brought me to this
electric chair,” he said.
He handed Sheriff Rex Sweat of
Duval County a folded note. Turn-
ing, he sat on the chair voluntarily.
A moment later high voltage cur-
rent ended his life.
The note proved to be a confes-
sion that Williams and McDonald
had killed Joe Johnson, the cab
driver, in a holdup. Then there
was a postscript.
In it Williams said he killed a
Chinese in Savannah, Ga., in 1921.
It did not give the Oriental's name
or other circumstances of the crime.
Prison officials communicated
with Savannah authorities.
Supt. L. F. Champan said Robert
Hinds, a negro saved from a mob
€ at Apalachicola and tried at Tal-
lahassee under National Guard pro-
tection, would be put to death Fri-
} day for criminal assault on a white
woman. ,
er
“em
@ / McDonald, Pre Taio i oof
Rae nee a
ston & Williams, Fla. (Duval)
CLe
x
ude Lbe
A
ee ee ee
McFADDEN, Will, black, hanged at Titusville, X¥&% Florida, on May 21, 1909.
"Titusville-on-the-Indian River, May 21, 1909-At exactly 10 o'clock this morning
justice was meted out in this city of Will McFadden, a ginger-cake colored negro,
for the usual crime of that race, At three minutes to 10 o'clock Mc‘ adden was
brought from the jail, with Sheriff Brown on the left and Marshal Waller on his
right side, and they immediately ascended the steps to the scaffold, a structure
about 20 feet high, which had been completed yesterday, After the usual ceremonies
the black cap was adjusted, the lever pulled and Mc¥adden shot down into the enclos-
ure of the scaffold, which had been so arranged that no one could see him in his
death struggles - if any. Lvidently his neck was broken, for the doctor attending
#X him said he never moved after the drop, When McFadden was passing through the
crowd of about 300 persons who had assembeld in the court house yard to witness the
hanging, on his way to the scaffold, he looked right and left as if to see if there
was any one he knew, but no sign of recognition was noticed, and he then looked
straight in front of him until the black cap was adjusted over his head. Dr.
Wilson pronounced McFadden dead at 10:08 o'clock and the body was then cut down
and prepared for burial, The crime for which McFadden was executed today was one
of the most brutal in the annals of this county.
"In August, 1907, Will Mc* adden, knowing that the husband was away from home and
would be detained for about 6 hours, entered the home of Mrs, D, M. Walters at Pi-
neda, Fal,, a small village near titusville, and at the point of a pistol, made the
woman disrobe, threatening death if she did not, and detained her in her home for 5
hours, brutally and criminally assaulting her during that period ot time, The negro
then made his escape through the hammocks and for some time it was thought the crime
would go unpunished, But those who harbored this idea did not know the man with whom
the negro fiend had to deal with - Sheriff Joe Brown, Quietly, but persistently,
the sheriff has been working on this case, visiting railroad and turpentine camps far
and near M&X#X in this state, and at intervals would visit the different jails and
look over all the colored prisoners to ‘see if McFadden was there. Last February
Sheriff Brown got an inkling that McFadden was at a railroad camp near Jacksonville
and he immediately departed for that place and captured his man, While there na- |
turally has been bitter feeling towards this negro fiend, yet there has never been
any whisper of unlawful punishment by the public, Everything was quiet here today
and another brute met his just fate. Immediately after it became known that Sheriff
Brown had arrested the man who assaulted Mrs, Walters, there was a movement on foot
to raise a fund of $500 to show thepublic's appreciation of the sheriff's great work.
However, when Mr, Brown heard of this move, he declined to accept the gift, saying
it was only his duty and he could not take the mone," FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, Jackson=
ville, Fla., May 22, 1909 (3/3)
