PEOPLES, Rodell, black, electrocuted SP (Jefferson Co.), July 20, 1928.
“Rodell Peoples, Jefferson County negro, went to his death in the electric chair for the
murder of E. T. Lewis, Birmingham traffic officer. Two shocks were used in the electrocution.
The first shock was at 12:21 o’clock and the second at 12:24 o’clock. He was pronounced dead
at 12:31 o’clock.
“Peoples shot the officer when he was stopped for speeding on a downtown street in Bir-
mingham. He said that he thought the officer was going to arrest him which he confessed he had
committed previous to the shooting.”-Adyertiser, Montgomery, AL, 7/20/1928 (2/4).
774 _ ALABAMA, 3 JUNE TERM, 1849. 775
Phereby, a slave, v. The State. — F -Phereby, a slave, v. The State. en
Bourne, for defendant in error :—The Legislature conter. ‘ Tus plaintiff ia error was indicted for the murder of Eliza- a
plated only one tax fee for each cause, and not one for each ~ beth Sheppard, and was described in the indictnent as her o
answer. (See Clay’s Dig. 236—Fees to counsellors and at. _ property. Qn the trial, the State proved that the plaintiff was tg
torneys at law.) If each defendant is entitled to a tax tee, the the property of said Elizabeth Sheppard at the time of her Es
complainant is entitled to as many tax fees as there are defen. ¢ death, but made no proof of property in any person since.— Ey
ails. : The prisoner’s counsel requesied the court to charge the jury, Aas
- “that unless a property in the prisoner, at the time of the find- s
CHILTON, J.—The statute declares that the law of costs ing of the indictment, was proved, the jury must acquit the “wp
shall be deemed and held as penal, and no fees shall be taken © prisoner,” which charge the court refused to give, but charged a
but in cases expressly provided for by law.—Digest, 239, 912. 4 that ifa property in the prisoner, at the time of the alleged a.
This is a sufficient indication of the Legislative intention, ~ murder, was proved, it was sufficient.” To the charge given, ‘
that the several statutes confering fees and allowing them to _ and refusal to charge as asked, the prisoner excepted, and now ct
be taxed in the bill of costs must be strictly construed, @ assigus them as error, eat oe
The act of 1812 allows to counsellors and attorneys at law, é . ee te
for prosecuting or defending a suit in chancery, the sum of fif. . > . Orvonp, for the plaintiff in error, ct
By O15 4 y IOV : A
teen dollars, Which, by the act of 1815, is to be es by 3. L, Marri, for the State. @
the party prevailing in the suit, against the party cast.—Ciay’s t ; er
Dig. 236-7. The statute no where speaks of two or more tax _ DARGAN, C. J.—The case of Flora y. The Siate, 4 Port,
fees being recovered in the same suit, however numerous the : 111, is precisely in point, and compels us to reverse the judg. 7
parties, or however distinct their interests may be. We do not _ment of the Circuit Court, unless we overrule the devision ia
feel authorised to extend the operation of this statute, by giv- _ that case. ‘A majority of the court, however, think that we
ing it the equitable and liberal construction contended for, but * should be governed by the authority of that case, and I am
= 2 ge on the contrary, must construe it strictly, and thus construed, - therefore instructed to reverse the judgment of the Circuit
e cei tee we feel no hesitation in saying that but one tax fee can be al- 4 Court. My own opinion, however, is that the judgment should
ae ae Ati lowed in each suit to be paid by the unsuccessful party, menere be affirmed. All that need be alleged in an indictment against
Sees defence has been made by him or them.—Clay’s Dig, 334. a slave, is the crime with which he is charged and his status
BS ee) Let the decree of the chancellor, disallowing more than one _or condition. I do not think it necessary that the indictment
ie ¥ Sa tax fee in the same suit, be affirmed. ‘should show who is the owner of the slave, even where the
ee e | owner is known, and, therefore, no proof of ownership is ne-
Bee st i _ @ > cessary; but as a different rule of construction has been ap-
2 eae a ae Se eee REE aC “plied to our statute, regulating the trial of slaves for capital
eh Bee ¢ offences, the majority of the court are of the opinion that we
| = eek. - should not depart from that construction.
be ee aS = a PHEREBY, a SLAVE, vs. THE STATE. me The judgement of the Cireuit Court must therefore be re-
ee Ae # versed and the cause remanded for further proceedings. The
- : ‘ 1. In the criminal prosecution ofa slave for murder, the indictment mvt “prisoner, however, will be retained in custody to abide another ‘
. a — allege who the owner is at the time it is found, and the allegation must S trial, sinless Sie he discharged in the meantine by dele Houese ,
a ae a4 be supported by the proof. " P of law. . °
Ses ae Error to the Circuit Court of Fayette. Tried before the e: BS
ate, ee Hon. Geo. Goldthwaite. . : val
i
"rT
a
PEOPLES, Rodell, black, elec. Ala. SP (Jefferson) on July 20, 1928,
- Pa Om Hag fee Offer .
foere ratd tx Flu clehsentisn. (= ah eet Gytlid
Ae f2 27 pene f ALA of [REW OCB aK, fe
bone fitor_ounie eof dud /2 ‘Sle Glock : xe ‘
fr For
Loe:
PETERSON, Henry, black, 29, electrocuted Alabama (Montgomery) 2-27-1936
ee LCS Vous Oe, ise Lhe hs Soha’
fal oe a deg ee, rod
Cat /, Jt. ae. ttre ne
Gti Oluane pip omee Sow te
+ Faro A Jani Clemeneg: A128, (- 26-38 C~O.
“pee areca Att, Mack), hie, 2-2 9-/98 fo
: a FUCL aha. AP bE Bom. i,
| = ees LY. (at 2hoele. EH [R! /b , Locgnd at /2! Wee
Be ct (220. “Loa tae A mee 3
(nadine Lengted pict Votire Cap BA Gon
: woe 4 Urtiuso d Yranked ler ZbAho “het
N Unrdice fe, huhuosg bn e a a IG
aco Whats peayedl "Leu gut ozs
eae iiinns hainiaat
sr
| pee Gud MA 27 4(-+)
ks Pees: “f alliveT eau bx / pagel I> (fecal body
s wpe (Corea Lee (Che bled ly Cte ph Cnn. Lo, A ecu
| hea being ghncect et fines oie f, (Meritt te
: febype haves teen Gfecar lhaks Hl tecadkiawr : Ml Yee esce
fthine ase ty-X-KI-1 IF 6- pehne a [astbe hep; faye
te Le Corny Panu Sees © @ /o-yur pel Wgu |
Jronreasedl heal af Ze Bi hie Mad etiud [lua $ tw
eS by (adknce (Soarke . MA #-Al# fat t
NO APPEAL
PERKINS, Tom, black, 29, electrocuted Alabama (Monroe County) on July 3, 1936.
"(AP) Montgomery, AL, 5-5-1936.<Governor Bibb Graves and the state pardon board today
mulled over the story of a condemned negro that he was forced into a death plot and
accidentally kill&d one of the conspirators, The negro, Tom Perkshs of Monroe County,
was granted a twoeweek reprieve by Governor Graves after his clemency hearing yesterday
in order that Attorney General A. Ae Carmichael, absent board member, might hear the
story. The negro was scheduled to die shortly after midnight Thursday night, for the
slaying of Clifton McNeil, young white man of Old Texas Community in Monroe County.
"He told the Governor and Pardon Board that McNeil and his sister, Mrs, Marvin Owens,
‘ordered! him to kill a young negro cook at the Owens home where McNeil also lived,
He said he fired at the girl as she stepped on the back porch but accidentally struck
McNeil who also was standing on the porch, and the young man died a few minutes later.
Court records showed the negro after shooting McNeil, fired several shots into the
house, striking the negro girl on the hand and hip. The negro fled after the shooting
and was captured later near Georgiana, He was convicted shortly afterwards in the
Monroe circuit court and sent to Kilby prison to be executed May 8, No appeal
was taken to the supreme court, and his story was not told until yesterday. Prison
records show that at the time of the shooting, he was an escaped convict, having made
his escape from a prison camp in 1935 while serving a sentence for burglary." AMERICAN,
Hattiesburg, MS, May 5, 1936 (7/5.)
‘ JOE PIGEON, Hanged Mobilel1-13-185% - Continued
as though an effort to wash out the stains had been made,
"Col, Buford testified to having, together with Capt, Charpentier, taken one of
Varner's boots, which was singularly shaped, to the place, and upon comaring it
with footprints upon the ground around there, found it to fit exactly, The boot
had to all appearance been lately washed, and had become dry and hard, The pants
were found hanging carelessly upon the windows in his room as if to dry. The shirt
and drawers were taken from his person,
"William Mopre swore that during the day on which the murder was committed, Varner
came to him and remarked: 'Taffy is murdered, and Joe Pigeon's arrested, I am all
right,!
"The other evidence was of comparative little importance and did not at all conflict
with that given, Varnerwas committed for trial at the next term of theCity Court
on a charge of mrder without bail,
"Willoughby Price and Elmira Sadler were not examined, They were arrested upon
Pigeon's statement, but the officers had failed to make out anything against then,
They were held as prisoners and their casecontinued,
"Somebody had said (Pigeon we believe) that Price had remarked that if Williams was
out of the way they could have a home and Price and he a cab apiece,
"In the course of theexamination it was show that Williams had made $10.50 that
day, when it was thought he had a good deal of money besides,
"Pigeon and Price and his sister seemed to show very little concern about the
matter, Varner wasevidently laboring under considerable embarrassment and excitement
all the way through the examination, and once or twice attempted to correct state-
ments made by Col, Buford and others," REGISBER, September 18, 1855 (3-1).
Pigeon's nickname "Indian Joe" = same source as preceding,
"The details of the dreadful mrder of Lewis Williams are thickening every hour, and
while any reasonable chance remains for obtaining full and reliable evidence that
may bring all the guilty parties to justice the preliminary examination will necci-
sarily be postponed, From information given by Pigeon - or Indian Joe = a man (cab
driver) named GeorgeW. Varner and familiarly termed 'Ponyt was on Friday night
arrested by Capt. Charpentier of the police, The details given by Indian Joe respecting
his own acts and those of 'Pony' are absolutely friaghtbul and inclupate the step-son
and daughter of the deceased,
"Yesterday Indian Joe conducted the police offieers to the place - a pond in the
late Mrs. Barmes' old place - where the 2 knives used by the mrderers had been
thrown, After some search, these were found and proved to be what are generally
known as bubcher's skinning knives.
"On removing the rust from the blades, the stains of blood were plainly seen, as they
were on and about the brass rivets of the handles,
‘There are nowfour parties in prison - J, Pigeon, or Indian Joe, George W, Varner,
alias 'Pony! and the step-son and daughter of the deceased," RHVISTER, 8-16-1857(3~1).
PPM
fot S. Plog tb
pittet. 5 em,
Ate
. Sam res
eee
ice
Mug bt o. Q-WN-1 944 2 Ctr b ahap Cehind UY, tle j
ae aE her bei eid Ignatian Sao
Cp frrmas of S— So and oO:
S ‘
- gs +5
aghet #8 adv’ (Cqimop wossazyop) woepty OS Biwaery “oste eat eg aoe Sera
of pants, which together with his shirt and drawers, were very bloody. si
"Antoher witness, whose name we,.have forgotten, ,testified that he was on Royal St.
oppisite the Mobile Bank, between 1 and 14 o'clock at night, when Pigeon came up
to Williams, whose cab was opposite the coffee saloon, and taking him aside, asked
him privately if he didn't want to go somewhere (witness didn't hear where) and
they jumped into the cab and went off together, :
"Col, Buford, the coroner, being put upon the stand, stated that he was called upon
byL&. Lefevre at about 6:30 o'clock on the morning aforesaid to go and hold an in-
quest upon the’ dead body, After drinking a cup of coffee he went to the place and
made she examination as well as he could, taking particular notice of the appearance
of the place and things around them, The body was found on the edge of Virginia St.
aboub 10 or 50 yeards from the road leading to Mrs, Barnes' place, and about 70 or
8@ yards from where the encounter appeared to have taken places. «. There were evidences
of a struggle at the place where Col, B, thought the, encounter took places Charpen=
. tier, Murray- and others were then, busied in, getting information concerning the murder
as best they could, Heard of the arrest of Pigeon somewhere between 12 and 1 o'clock
-notpositive as to thetime. Capt. Charpentier had some conversation with him (Pigeon)
in which he implicated others, stating that he was induced to go after Williams by
Willoughtby Price and his sister, Maury then came in, when Pigeon made a similar
statement to him,‘ Gol, B, then took Pigeon out and told him he wanted him to take
the route he took the night before, ~ Pigeon then by a round about course carried
him to the place where the body was found, remarking on reaching it there's where
the man was murdered,' Col, B, said he thought from his carrying him to the
identical spot whitout further instructions than had been given him, strong evi-
dence of his guilt, Pigeon was then questioned in order to see if anything more |
concerning the murder could be found, He replied that ‘Willoughby Price first.
struck and cut Williams' throat, that. his sister, who was dressed in men's clothes,
next inflicted a wound and that they threw the corpse back .on him (Pigeon), The
fight lasted some time, they out of the cab and then he (Pigeon) tried to get
Williams from under Price, Willoughby Price and his sister then went on to Mrs.
Bafnest and he (Pigeon) got out of the cab and laid down to sleep, Maury and Col.
Buford told him they were conscious he was lying when he immediately said Varner
was the one who had done the deed, .
"Several other witnesses were introduced whose evidence was only confirmatory of the
above, °
"Pigeon afterwards told the officers that if theywould take him out he would,show
them where the knives weres They did so, and in a pond near by, two butcher kniyesy
nearly new, were found under the edge of the water, 11
"The prisoner was upon the evidence above; committed for trial at the next term of
the City Court on the charge of murder - without bail.
"George W. Varner was next brought out for trial,. He was arrested upon the statement
of Pigeon-when Col, Buford, after warning him not to commit himself and putting him
sufficiently on his guard, told him he wanted him to tell him where he was nn the
night of the mrder, He then-stated that he was.on the stand untill Ls 30 o'clock
when he put up his horse and cab and went to the Coffee Saloon to get some coffee,
when finding that it would take more money to treat the party than he had, conclu}
ded hewouldn't take any. ‘Somebody came to him and said Pigeon wanted to get a cab.
Pigeori then took Taffy and went off, He then went to his room and to bed, woke up
Ned Walker, his room mate, talked with him, and then went to sleep and knew nothing
more until he was waked up by Philibert at about 7 o'clock in the morning, Said Tom,
Ensign's barkeeper, and Walker «would éonfirm his -statement.
"Pé6m was examineds Saw room door opened bud didn't Kotice wnether "Poney" Varner
was there or not, knew nothing about the affair except what he had heard,
"Walker had no recolléction of being waked up, Varner had not come in when he went
to bed, but found him there in‘the morning, ‘near 7 o'clock, when he got up. Varner
seldoms comes.to bed before 12, sometimes not till,2, hears him sometimes and,
sometimes don't; they room together over Ensgin's bar room, |
"Several, persohs were introduced to prove that they saw Varner.as early as from 5
to 6 o'clock on the morning of the mrder, and one or two to showthat he had been
seen in Company with the deceased and the other prisoner late the night before. ALL
or nearly all of his statements were-proven to have ben falsee, court and were found
. ns e thi _ 4 shirt, drawers and pants = were: ex re ared
) és ss oar oak them which ‘Dr. Levert Bronounced to be bloods the er sae a
o ha ;
‘
JOE-PEGEON, Bing ee at Hate tey Mabama, . on November 13, 1857.
"Yesterday being the day appoint ed for receiving the promised affidavits in the case
of Joe Pigeon, convicted of the mrder of Lewis Williams, the case was called up and
Judge McKinstry announced himself ready to take those affidavits into consideration;
but none was forthcoming, the counsel for the prisoner (Governor Bagby) not being in
atte dance.
"On #wing asked if he had any reasons to urge why the sentence of the law should not
be passed upon him, Pigeon merely replied: 'I have nothing to say,!
"To several enquiries as to his consciousness of the enormity of the crime he had
committed, he bowed: assent; but during the whole of the very touching address of
Judge McKinstry, his- steady look upon him never wavered, nor did he evince the -
Slightest emotion when the judge, warning him to. enterhain no hopeof commutation,
sencented him to be hanged on Friday, Nov, 13, 1857," MOBILE REGISTER, 9=2)j=1857(3+1).
"Joe Pigeon, convicted of the mrder of Williams, the cabman, had his sentence de-
ferred until tomorrow, in order to give an opportunity for teceiving the affidavits
2 witnesses, whose evidence it was thought might influence the decision, His
cou#sel applied for a postponement until the next term of the Court, but the Judge
refused the application," MOBILE REGISTER, 9-23-1857 (3-1). ~
"The City Court was crowded all yesterday to excess by, hundreds whexe were anxious
to hear the trial of Joe Pigeon, the half-breed charged with the maar den of Lewis
Williams, or Taffy tie cainman,
"A jury being empaneled after some delay, Gov, Bagby sii: as Epleat for the
accused and R, B, Armistead, Esq., for theState. Five witnesses were examined, whose
testimony differed little, if any, from that produced on the past examination in
the Mayor's Court, and no rebutting evidence wan offered for the defence,
"It was ingeniously contended by the prisoner's counsel thathis convessi on was not
legal evidence, as.it might have been extorted; but it was proved. that he had vole
unteered to show the officers the spot where the deed was committed, and to get
the two knives out of the pond, where they were hidden,
"The jury, which was a very intelligent one, were absent only a short time, when they
returned a verdict of ‘guilty of murder in the first degree," and awarded the death
penalty. The court, presided over by Judge McKinstry, was engaged in the case all
day. Mr, Robinson, as counsel for George Varner, or Pony, had. in the morning ob-
tained a severance of the case of his client who was jointly indicted for the murder
of Williams," REGISTER, Sept. 17, seh (3qL).
-
"Wednesday next is the day set apart for the trials of Joe Pigeon and G W. Warner
for the murder of Lewis Williams, the cabman," RNQUSTER, Sept, 11, 1857 (3-1).
tyilloughby Price and Elmira Saddler, his sister (step@children of Williams) were
brought out this morning, and there appearing no evidence of their being implicated
inthe matter, further than fromthe statement of Joe Pigeon, they were discharged,
Pigeon has been ascertained to be, beyond doubt, the son of an Indian woman, so his
testimony against a white person could not be admitted," REGISER, 8-21-1857( 3-1).
"MAYOR'S CQURT-The court room tédday was crowded to a jam, the object of attraction
being the trial of Joe Pigeon, GW. Varner ("Poney"), Willoughby Price and Elmira
Saddler, charged with being implicated in the mrder of the. cabman, Lewis Williams,
better known as 'Taffy,' which it was understood would come off this morning, The
first case called was that of Joe Pigeon,the half-breed Indian,
"The first witness on the stand'was Capt. Charpentier, whose testimony WASy in sub-
stance, nearly as follows: Came down town at about 7 o'clock on the morning of the
13th ahd was told yhat 'Taffy' (Williams) had been mfdered and that his body had been
found on the Bay road, Witness then asked who was last seen with Williams, when he
was told by a cabdriver that 'Pigeon was with him late last night.' Search was at
once made for him, wien, between 1 and 2 o'clock, he was found under the St, Francis
St. wharf, the officers in close pursuit o t
discovering him, and he was finst) sean by faite Beerncd Mee ear Be BIRB nage bagore
police, then jumped overboard after him, when Pigeon, finding the officers after him,
pave himself up to a boatman, He was examined closely and found to have on two pair
_/.. PILLBY, Robert §., white, electrocuted Alabama (Jefferson) April 19, 1916,
Pe ON | es . Robert Pilley Pays
ee With Lite In Chai
re eee a For Holdup Slaying
Dies With Prayer On
SAGA | | ! Lips After Pleas For
secaniesg ania ae Seeds oan, wees Clemency Are Refused
Eton porsmetae, 4s ! MONTGOMERY. Ala, Apel 73
ae Wie ah: Sheet alee at at cates : beet Tt) Pale and slender 26. ea: ald
goteey j ‘Robert S (Steve Priley went to
: death in the electric chair todas
: dy bea : ie As with the niitspoken prayer May
; ; 2 the. Lord have mercy upon ms
SOUL
The sandy-haired youth paid with
; i h Si AY his life for the holdup siaving af
NC a le a eine: : Peewee George N Goatley, Birmingham
\ Nee Mi SSSI Seaver, =restatirant operator, after last-min-
, j Oy ie ule appeals from relatives and
Sena yy the : Coe eos friends fatied to bring clemency
from Gov. Sparks,
‘6 Pilley was convicted of the slav-:
ting in 1944 less than 6 dav« after
“he wast paroled from a 20-year sen- ;
tence for robbety. He first entered
prison al the age of 17 aftv'r a box.
hood in which hi« mother said he
“never had a chance” 5 ;
He was strapped in the chair at
1) minutes after midnight, and
prison’ doctors declared ‘him dead
st ea at five minutes later One of his last
aE ae eee HT Sa WR MRR Ct . Seana ; Sek requests wat to ask prison Chaplain
; : Re k s f : : sae Be en WH Swearingen to write his
“a $e Sh att thesia A aan Pi : mother. Mrs” Welt Ridley and
a ; See “tell her 2 died believing an the
4 | erate ak ee Lord
i, v4 Mrs. Ridies. told the governor
Piliev grew up in a home broken
by the death of his father “Robert
: eae : r ‘ NaC : seats Rot into: trouble”. she said “be.
hee Gkinen faa ie is cause he didnt have the proper ad:
re Paha 4 SE rection when he was amal! and
. : needed 1 ”
: ? Mrs Ridley < sister, Mrs J.-H
é os Nann, also of Birmingham teid
$ ! pei Sparks there had been times dur-
ati ; aay ing Pittey s childhood when the
family “didnt even have lood in
me the house”
* Lai iene Ningee SHEA rae: Roth relatives and the condemned
a a Re ee ; Lae peas killer himself said they were con-
Ls a Sete vinced Pilley had changed his
ne : : : en wats, but Gov Sparks said “1 be-
; Hee Hieve this boy ts definitely anti-so-
Ne : Sen cial” and “nothing could restrais
mi ; we him from here on out”
af baa ye , eg pie Chaplain Swearingen said today
Soy saat dha tiger aay eral : i arash acti fed Hi dst ere the family had claimed Pilles s
y
body and funeral services will be
i me brio stip \ ei ae held at 2. pm tomorrow at St
Mico aie sh ate er ree N\ary <ain-the-Highlands Chureh
BS : : iS eee Birmingham
; ; i i att ts The chaplain said he anit the
ste acura Aree mic tt Carnes IRR Oe Reaves re Re: Wii Marniion. rector of S!
4 Kea te <4 Beh ey Marys «ho joined yesterda\ ‘a a
futile plea for the young man « |}
would conduct the services and
Durlal Would be in Elmwood Ceme
tery
.
che farm today. Everything you can
“emember.”
Mrs. Walker said that she and Mar-
in had left the farm about 10:30 that
norning to go to Dallas to sell some
chickens and do some shopping.
“Did your daughter go along?”
“No. She planned to, but she was |
‘eeling rather badly when we got ready |
0 go, so she stayed home.”
“I see. Go on.” a
Mrs. Walker said that she had left
Martin soon after they got to Dallas.
3he had some shopping to do. She met
Martin again at 2:30 in the afternoon,
ind they returned to the farm to-
zether. .
“What time did you get here?”
“About half-past three.”
“What did Martin do then?”
“He changed his clothes and left the
nouse. He said he had some work to
jo on the tractor.”
“Did he come back to the house after
hat?” .
“No.”
“Did you hear a gun-shot around
1alf-past four this afternoon?”
“I heard a shot, but there are so many
seople hunting up and down the River
..Imnever dreamed...” The woman
started crying.
White turned to the woman's daugh-
er. “Where were you after half-past
hree?”
“I was here in the house helping
Mother,” she said. Her voice was soft,
1ardly audible.
a you see anyone around the yard
it all?”
“No, Sir.” °.
Mrs. Walker said that if Martin had
iny enemies she didn't know who they
added, however, that she prob-
y wouldn’t anyway because
Martin never said anything to he
‘bout his personal affairs.
Deputy White showed Mrs. Walker
he 20-gauge shotgun he had
inderneath the tractor.
“Ever see this gun before?”
“No ...I don’t think so. Mr.
in had a-twelve-gauge, I believe\, He
cept it in his closet. That doesn’t laok
o me like the same gun, though.” —
Deputies White and Nowlin had a
ook in Martin's closet. They found
he twelve-gauge gun, all right. Also
he .22 rifle.
So the question of the ownership of
he mysterious shotgun with the empty
hell-case in the barrel remained un-
nswered.
Deputy White telephoned Sheriff
smoot Schmid at Dallas, told him the
letails of the case, asked the Sheriff
o come to the farmhouse and bring
he coroner and another officer or two
long with him.
While the officers were waiting for
sheriff Schmid, they left the farm
ome, went back to the tractor and the
lain man. There they made casts of
he two sets of footprints found on the
orth side of the shed. Then Nowlin
-alked to the woods to make a cast of
he footprint he had picked up there,
nd of the tire-track found by the
tiver.
Deputy White remained with the
vody. _He searched Martin's pockets
nd failed to find a billfold.
White hurried back to the farm
ome. He asked Mrs. Walker about the
illfold. She had no idea where it was,
r how much money was in it. 4
“But I know one thing,” she said. “He
lways carried it around in his left hip
ocket. So if it is gone, someone must
ave taken it.”
“He changed clothes, didn’t he, after
ou two got back from Dallas—before
e went to work on the tractor?”
“Yes. He wore his blue trousers to
own. You'll probably find them in his
oom.”
White hurried to Martin’s bedroom.
fe found the trousers, lying across the
~~ -*a chair. He went through every
No billfold! i
| you describe it for me?” White
Urs. Walker.
“Well, it was brown—and large. ‘I
emember it had some kind of fancy
ngraving on it, but I don’t know ex-
ctly what kind: I never paid enough
‘ttention to it.” .
As soon as Nowlin came back from
making the casts of the tracks he had
' found in the woods, Deputy White left
him to guard the body until the Sheriff
and coroner arrived. Then White took
the young farmhand, Whitehead, and
went to the near-by Ketchum farm.
White told Ketchum what had hap-
pened, but the neighbor already had
heard about the tragedy.
“Terrible,” Ketchum said, shaking
his head slowly. “Bob was a mighty
hard-working man. Shame he has to
kick off just when he’s gettin’ things
so he can sort of take it easy for a while.
|Hear tales that he had some pretty big
‘plans cookin’ up in Dallas, too.”
The middle-aged farmer looked it
over closely: “Nope, can’t say that I
ever did. Mighty fine gun, though. Sure
wouldn't mind havin’ it. Where did you
get it? Mixed up in this killin’ in som
way?” ;
_“I think so.” |
“Then I guess I'm glad it don’t belong
to me.” The farmer looked at the gun
more closely. “Brand new, ain’t it?”
White nodded. |
“Where in heck did anyone ever find
a new gun like that?”
“Maybe someone around here had it
stored away for a while—just waiting
for a good time to use it.”
Pianos from His Killers.”
W. Czajkowski, 18, con
kidnapi i
Up to the Minute .
A JURY of twelve men convicted Mrs. June Queen of the
first degree murder of Trucker Otto Jaeschke at Stan-
ford, Kentucky, May 2, and she was sentenced to life impris-
onment. The story of the police search for the slayers of
Jaeschke was carried in the June, 1946. issue of OFFICIAL
DETECTIVE STORIES under fhe title. “They Were Eight
A jury took just five minutes to convict Frederick Morris of
murder in the first degree for the slaying of Mrs. Rose Reyn-
olds in Chester, Pennsylvania. The detective story of this
case, “Here’s a Good Place to. Kill Me.” appeared in the
August, 1946. issue of OFFICIAL DETECTIVE STORIES.
Morris was executed October 28, 1946.
Robert F. Smith was committed to a mental institution
- for the killing of Roy Gordon Beh near Grand Haven, Michi-
gan, and a Federal court gave his partner in crime, Boleslaw
auto theft and five years for
AG" register firearms. The “Riddle of Detroit's Roy Gordon
Beh” appeared in the June, 1946, issue. ~
His last hope for clemency gone. Robert-S. Pilley admitted
the murder of George N. Goatley of Birmingham, Alabama,
and was executed April 19, 1946. “By the Red Sweater Route
to Murderers” told how Pilley was trapped by police. It
appeared in the June, 1946, issue.
John Luffman and Alvin Hicks, killers of Grady and Rub-
bins Cherry in Dover, Tennessee, were put to death in
ate’s electric chair August 30 their
capture e January, 1946, OFFICIAL.
Kathleen Nash Durant, WAC captain, and Major David F.
Watson were found guilty by Army courts-martial in connec-
tion with the theft of the $3,000,000 Hesse crown jewels. Mrs.
Durant was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, Major
Watson to three years. Both verdicts were returned at Frank-
fort, Germany; trial of the third defendant, Colonel Jack W.
Durant. has been transferred to the United States. The story
of the detective work leading to the apprehension of these
three appeared in the September, 1946, OFFICIAL.
ears for
jure
\
“Plans? Guess I hadn't heard about
‘em yet.” 4
“Oh, Bob was courtin’ some woman
up there—so I hear. .A widow woman.
Runs a boarding-house in Dallas. Don't
know if it was very serious, but I heard
it was. You know how word gets
around. Only trouble seemed to be that
some other man was wantin’ to marry
this widder, too.”
White didn’t reply for the moment.
Slowly, he took out a package of cigar-
ettes, lighted one. In the midst of a,
cloud of smoke, he said, “What is this *
woman's name?” .
“Mrs. Biddle. Lois Biddle, I think it
“And what’s the other man's name—
the other man who was courting the
woman?” ?
“Bill Pollsun. Runs a cafe there.
Likeable sort of guy—stutters some.,
Got a pretty good business head on ’im, *
though. Got quite a lot of jack stored
away, I hear. Played poker with him
some. He always had plenty of dough
them times.” ‘ ;
WHITE catalogued this information
carefully in his mind. Here was
something that definitely would bear
looking into.
The Deputy got away from the Dallas
angle and showed Ketchum the 20-
put shotgun. “Ever see that gun be-
ore?”
“Don't think so. I sure never seen
it before.”
Deputy White took a long drag on his
cigarette, then pointed to young How-
ard Whitehead. “Just one other thing
I wanted to check, Mr. Ketchum. This
young hired hand of Martin's says he
was chopping wood for you today. That
right?”
Ketchum looked at Whitehead and
smiled. “Yep. Worked ‘til about six
o’clock.’* ~
White nodded. “Just wanted to get
it straightened up in my own mind.”
THE Deputy and hired hand started
back to the Martin farm. On the
way, White asked the young man if he
ever had heard Martin say anything
about his woman friend in Dallas, but
the farm employe shook his head.
“Mr. Martin was a very quiet man,”
the youth said, after a moment.
“Sometimes he was hard to understand.
But he was always pretty good to me.
Besides, I've only been here a couple of
weeks.” :
When Deputy White got back to the
Martin farm he found Sheriff Schmid,
the coroner and Assistant District At-
torney M. L. Miller waiting for him.
The coroner already had completely
eradicated the possible suicide angle by’
determining that the killer had been
about ten feet from Martin when the
fatal shot was fired. Unable to make
_ further progress at the death farm, the
officers started back. to Dallas. The
coroner took charge of having the body
removed to the morgue in Dallas for
further examination.
Sheriff Schmid took ‘the 20-gauge
shotgun under his wing, explaining
that he would put some deputies to
work to try to determine the origin of
the gun and thus trace it to its last
owner.
Later that night Deputies White and
Nowlin called on the widow, Mrs. Lois
Biddle. She was quite an attractive
woman, about 55 years old. She was
neatly dressed and her graying hair,
carefully groomed, told plainly that she
was a fastidious person.
She frowned when she saw the offi-
cers. “Something wrong? I didn’t call
you.”
“Yes,” White said. “I know. We'd
like to talk with you for a few minutes.”
“One of my roomers in trouble?”
“No. Not that. May we come in?”
“Well—" ‘Mrs. Biddle hesitated. “I
have a visitor. Couldn’t you come
back?”
“No. I’m sorry, but we'll take only
a few minutes.”
Mrs. Biddle introduced her visitor to
the officers as Mr. William Pollsun.
“Quite a coincidence,” White said.
“We want to talk to Mr. Pollsun also.”
OLLSUN wore an expensive black
suit but his red tie and wrinkled col-
lar didn’t fit in so well. Something
seemed out of place. “What's this all
about?” he asked. His flushed face
showed that he was not too happy over
the unexpected visit.
“Haven’t you heard?” White asked.
“Heard what?”
“That Bob Martin was killed this af-
“Oh, Heavens!” Mrs. Biddle
gasped. . it couldn’t be! He was
here for lunch today. He seemed so
ge then.\| There must be a mis-
Seri
“There is yo mistake. The top of his
head was bléwn off with a shotgun. We
thought maybe you or Mr. Pollsun
might be able to give us some assistance
acking down the person—or per-
sons—who did it.” —
Pollsun walked to. Mrs. Biddle, put
his arm around her. He patted her
shoulder, attempting to comfort -her.
“This is—uh—quite a—a shock to us,”
he said. “You see, Mr. Martin was a—
a good friend of ours. We knew nothing
about this until just now: It’s—pretty
hard to take.”
“We understand,” White said, look-
ing straight at Pollsun, “that you and
Bob Martin were both quité interested
in—well, in the affections of Mrs.
Biddle.” : f
Pollsun's anger flared. “‘We were all
very good friends! That’s all I can tell
you. If yoy mean that you suspect Mrs.
Biddle or myself, you can check us
‘ thoroughly. I was at my restaurant all
afternoon and until seven o'clock to-
night. All my employes will tell. you
that. And Mrs. Biddle was here.”
“Is that right, Mrs. Biddle?”
“Yes, Sir.”
The two officers checked with several
of the-roomers who had been ‘at the
address that afternoon, and got the
same reply from all of them. Then they
went to see Pollsun’s employes—a cook
and two waitresses—and Pollsun’s story
held water. :
- White and Nowlin returned to Head-
quarters two discouraged men.
The only new developments in the
case had come from the coroner's
office. The coroner had set the time of
death as about 4:30 that afternoon.
Schmid told Nowlin and White to go
on home and get some sleep. Maybe
he'd have a new development for them
to go to work on the following morning.
HE new development came about ten
o'clock Tuesday when Sheriff
Schmid’s deputies, checking the fac- ~
tory where the mysterious 20-gauge
shotgun was made, finally traced the
gun to DeSoto, Missouri, a city of 5,000,
forty miles south of St. Louis.
There, the Dallas officers learned, the
gun had been stolen from the owner
about two months before.
“But, Chief!" Deputy White scratched
his head. “That’s over five hundred
53
Brits }4 ~ hant m 7 haite e
PILLEY, Robert S., white, elec
ba
—
EATH( ‘struck with almost unbelievable sud-
denness that sultry Tuesday: night of July
11, 1944, One minute, George N. Goatley,
pope roprietor of the West End Hamburger Shop in
irmingham, Ala., was smiling at his customers over a
bowl of onions he held in his hands. Seconds later, he was
lying fatally wounded behind the counter. aa.
Before the stunned customers could halt him, the man
who sent thé bullet crashing into Goatley’s skull backed out
the screen door and ran down Tuscaloosa Avenue. As the
i footsteps were lost in the clatter of a passing trolley,
one of the customers vaulted over the counter and felt of
Goatley. “He’s still alive,” he exclaimed. “Call an ambu-
lance—quick!”
Another man called the West End Baptist Hospital and
then dialed Birmingham Police Headquarters.
Less than five minutes later, Officers G. L. Pattie and
J. M. McDowell climbed out of the first of two police cars
to arrive and cleared a path through the throng of curiosity
— for Detectives Charles L. Pierce and J. R. Nor-
rell.
Pierce, an ace detective, led the way behind the counter
to the body of Goatley. “Keep that
crowd out,” he told Pattie and McDow-
- ell, “and don’t let any of the customers
32
BY ELOISE COOPER MACKEY
aN aaa!
€
gab
'
leave.” The officers nodded and stepped ofttside just as the
ambulance arrived.
“What are his chances?” Pierce asked the interne in
charge as the attendants placed the unconscious man on the
stretcher.
The doctor shook his head. “He can’t possibly live more
than a few tnihutes,” he declared. “The bullet entered the
back of the skill and is still buried in his head. I doubt if
we can get hirh to the hospital alive.”
When the ambulance had left, Pierce set to asking ques-
tions. He started with the counterman, 18-year-old Robert
Spray. — ;
“How did this happen ?”
“The guy with the gun sat on the stool nearest the door,”
the youth began, “He had on a blue sport shirt and I
thought he was just another high school fellow.”
“He was that young?” the detective was incredulous.
“He looked like it to me,” Spray continued. “Anyhow,
he ate a couple of sandwiches. When I told him what the
charge was he put the gun in my face and said, ‘Give me
all you’ve got.’”
“And did you?” asked Pierce.
“No. I just stood there. I was so
surprised I didn’t know what to do.”
“And where does Goatley come into
STARTLING
TAHRILAGC DETECTIVE
wve,S ILC,
ele
the picture? What was he doing while this was going on ?”
“He had just walked in from the kitchen with a bowl of
sliced onions,” the young man said. “When I didn’t answer
the guy with the gun, he turned toward Mr. Goatley.” -
“And shot him down—just like that!”
“Not right.then. Mr. Goatley must have thought it was
just a joke, for he sort of grinned and started walking back
toward the kitchen. The gunman yelled at him and when
Mr. Goatley didn’t stop he let the boss have it. Then he
backed out of here.. But what puzzles me is he left without
taking any money.” ’
“Maybe the holdup was just a blind,” Pierce suggested.
“Perhaps he came in here primarily to murder Goatley, and
made it look like a holdup to cover his real motive.”
“But why would anyone want to do that?” Spray coun-
tered. “Mr, Goatley was one of the finest men I ever knew.
Folks out here in the West End were crazy about him.”
Pierce sighed in agreement. He knew that in the ten
years since Goatley had come from Kentucky to
Birmingham, he had become one of the city’s most
popular citizens. Pierce paused a moment and
added, “What did the gunman look like?” ”
“T’ll never forget him,” Spray answered gravely.
“He had straight blond hair, slicked back, blue
eyes and a fair skin. All I remember about his
clothes is the blue sport shirt. But I noticed he
was about medium height, and a little on the
skinny side. He must weigh between 135 and 140.”
The detective at once called central headquar-
ters to order a.police dragnet thrown around the
entire district. Then he began questioning others
who were in the lunchroom during the shooting.
Mr. and Mrs. John Franklin and their small son
corroborated the counterman’s story in every de-
tail. ‘ aay ‘
Through his questions Pierce
learned that two young women
had been seated in one of the
wall booths but went out shortly
before the shooting.
Could the two girls have had
DETECTIVE
\
\
emo meen a FERS ‘ OTT eS HBL a LS at Ose POT 2:
some connection with the blond lo Pierce kept this
in mind as he framed new questions. :
bered that the blond youth had glanced sharply at the girls
as they walked out the door. ;
“Maybe he was just giving them the eye,” the witness
went on, “or maybe he was signalling them to wait for him
outside.”
Pierce asked several other questions about the girls, but
no one there knew who they were.
Gun in hand, the slick-haired bandit backed
out the door of the Birmingham Hamburger
_ Shop and ran down the street where his trail
suddenly vanished in the dark of the night.
George N. Goatley, paged proprietor of the
eating place, had no hint that the youth on the
end stool munching sandwiches was different
from the other customiers lining the counter.
33
One witness remem-'
pe ts FeSO 3
*
boxcar, Other squads
out of the city and ordered to stop all suspicious cars and
hitchhikers. Still others were assigned to pick up shady
characters and canvass the underwortd district for tips.
The hours of the night avere so filled with activity that
Pierce was scarcely aware of the passage of time. Along
toward dawn, however,
he began to grow
weary. As no hot leads
had been uncovered,
Pierce went home and
snatched a few hours’
rest. Before noon,
though, he was back
on the job.
He called for re-
ports from the men
who had worked
through the night but
learned very little from
them. The usual quota
of suspicious ¢harac-
ters had been picked
up, questioned and re-
leased. Two floaters
had been found in box -
cars at the railroad
yards, but they both
had alibis for the time
‘of the murder.
Pierce then con-
tacted the ballistics ex-
pert. “What ‘can you
tell me about that bul-
let?” he asked.
DETECTIVE
were posted on all highways leading The expert handed him an envelope containing the slug.
“It’s a .38,” he said. “They use this type of bullet in Colt
Specials. The FBI can tell you whether or not it was fired
from a Colt revolver.”
- Pending confirmation from the FBI, Pierce sent a detail
to check pawnshops for recent sales of .38 Colt Specials.
He also instructed the
officers to check all
permits issued for .38
Colt Specials in Bir-
mingham.
He then called: in
witnesses to the shoot-
ing and had them look
at photographs of ex-
convicts, escaped con-
victs and others with
police records from
Birmingham. and vi-
cinity.
Wednesday passed
quickly. No encourag-
ing reports reached
Detective Pierce. But
' as Thursday dawned,
the detective’s phone
[Continued on
page 53]
One person knew too much,
so the sport-shirted youth
was sentenced to death and
his pal to life impriscament,
Goatley crumpled to the
floor near the kitchen entry
behind the counter, below.
at a ie 2 RARER pea nae te ott me ime mani a arm Se ee eas nae ae oor ST
AEE a SACL? Ae NR SCC RSENS
SS
-
SRE MAORI
eng
“It isn’t. On her driver’s licerise it says —
she was five feet seven.”
“Who supplied the data for the report?”
Shay asked sharply.
“Art,” Packard replied calmly.
Shay sounded unconvinced. “It could
be a typographical error.”
“Art filled out the form, then put the
message on. the teletype himself. He
wouldn’t make that mistake twice, would
he?”
“Not very likely, What are you driving
at, Dale?”
“This: I bought a car from Art. Dor-
othy’s car, I found out that he had forged
her signature on the transfer slip at the
Motor Vehicle Bureau.”
“That’s bad business,” Shay said.
“It is. And there’s more of it. Yesterday
I opened the turtle back of the car for the
first time. The floorboards have a fresh
coat of paint. It’s a poor job of painting.
The whole back is stained with blood,
and you can see it through the tire black-
ing that was used for paint.”
Shay sat silent. Then: “You think
Arthur Eggers murdered his wife?”
“Tam sure he did.”
“Has anything been done about it yet?”
Packard shook his head.
Shay reached for the phone and got
Sheriff E. W. Biscailuz of Los Angeles
on the wire. Informed of the facts, Bis-
cailuz at once issued an order for Eggers’
‘arrest. After being taken into custody,
Eggers was rushed to San Bernardino.
‘He maintained his meek, calm manner.
“It’s all a mistake,” he kept saying.
“I wouldn’t hurt a hair on her head. I
wanted her there to raise the 'children.”
Sheriff Shay showed him the patched
white and green blanket in which Dor-
othy Eggers’ body had been wrapped.
“Does that come from your home,
Art?”
He squinted at it. “No.”
“You're lying,” Shay said soberly. “I
had this blanket shown to your children
within the last hour. The little girl said
the blanket came from her bed.”
“She's frightened,” Eggers said. “You've
been in this game long enough to know
that you can’t depend on children’s tes-
timony.”
The questioning was continued in Los
Angeles. Not once did Eggers depart
from his calm manner, never contradict-
ing himself. ss
But while the questioning was getting
nowhere, deputies and laboratory experts
gathered in highly important evidence.
The spots in the car proved to be blood.
It was Type A, the same as Dorothy
Eggers’. It matched bloodstains on the
floor of the Egger garage, on the blanket
and on a pair of trousers found in a closet
of the Eggers’ home. ‘Deputies also had
a look at Arthur Eggers’ workshop. It
was a very neat place with each tool as-
signed its spot. Only the space for the
saw was vacant.
eG, HERE did you put the saw?”
Eggers was asked. “Your wife
was cut up with one, you know.”
“The saw,” Eggers echoed, frowning
as if trying to remember. ;
“Oh yes,” he said. “I had a carpenter
at the house several months ago. He
took it.” :
Balked by Eggers’ wary responses, the
investigators decided to put him through
a lie detector test. The dials were manipu-
lated by City Chemist Ray Pinker while
questions were put by Detective Sgts.
Howard Achenbach and Walter Hannon
of the Los Angeles sheriff’s bureau of
investigation.
After five hours of questioning, the lie
detector test was broken off. ,
“We have learned nothing new,”
Pinker announced. “ Absolutely nothing.”
Now that science had failed, the inves-
tigators decided on some. old-fashioned
psychology.
Eggers had an old pal in Temple City,
Robert Z. Jones, a retired deputy sheriff.
Jones went into Eggers’ cell at the Los
Angeles County Jail, looked at Eggers
and said:
“Art, I’m one of your oldest friends.
I believe you are guilty. You will have a
better chance if you confess. Get it off
your chest and lay it on the line.”
Eggers thought for a moment. Then
he said, “All right, I did it.”
Captain Bowers and Deputy District
Attorney John Barnes were summoned
to get Eggers’ story. :
, His statement said he had killed his
wife because when he was coming from
work he thought he saw a man leaving
the house.
This added jealousy to the anger al-
ready stirred up by their quarrel. He
fired the shots while the children slept,
loaded the body into the back of the
car and cut it up. He said he had thrown
the saw and gun into a canyon on the
way to San formardiahe The head and
hands, he revealed, he pitched into a
ravine some distance up the road from
Waterman Canyon,
.Eggers took the officials to the ravine.
Walking a few feet apart, a corps of
deputies inspected every inch of it. But
the search proved futile. .
A short time later Eggers changed his
story, saying that he “burned the head
and hands in the incinerator in back of
my house.”
Officers rushed to the Eggers place and
for hours picked through ashes with no
more success than they had when they
searched the canyon. The investigators
had more luck locating the murder gun
and the saw. Both were found wrapped
in brown paper bags in Santa Anita Can-
yon, not far from where Eggers had al-
legedly thrown them away. The pawning
of his wife’s wristwatch was also traced
to him,
On January 29, 1946, murder charges
were filed against Arthur Eggers. On
February 2 a grand jury returned a first
degree murder indictment against him.
He jis now awaiting the trial that will de-
termine his innocence or guilt. '
(The name Robert C. White is fictitious to pre-
vent any embarrassment to a person innocently
involved in the investigation.—The Editor.) .
HE PAID WITH A
Ball
[Continued from page 35]
brought in dozens of volunteer tips.
Pierce put men to work checking the
various leads as fast as they were re-
ported,
One such tip led to the apprehension of
two former convicts, Not only did they
conform to the description of the blond
killer who paid his bill with a bullet, but
they were carrying .38 Colts.
While the ballistics expert fired test
“bullets from their guns for comparison
Chief:
with the ‘death bullet, Pierce,
Eddins and their aides questioned the ex-
convicts, ‘
Although neither of them possessed
an-adequate alibi, both declared they had
nothing to do with the murder of Goatley.
Finally, Pierce said, “Let’s place them in
the lineup and call in the witnesses.”
' This was done within the next hour.
The witnesses, however, failed to identify
either of the two men and insisted they
had never seen the suspects before, And
when their guns failed to check with the
death slug, Pierce released the two men.
Tips continued to pour in, but they
were fruitless. The pawnshop squad
failed to find any trace of a gun that
might be the murder weapon. And the
witnesses of the shooting had viewed
hundreds of police photos without finding
any of the blond killer, .
With the investigation apparently at a
dead end, Pierce and Chief Eddins dis-
cussed the case in the latter’s office.
“My guess is that the killer’s left town,”
Eddins remarked.
Pierce nodded. “He evidently has or
some member of the force would have
. spotted him by now.”
“He might be an out of town guy,”
Eddins went on. “Goatley’s hamburger
shop might have been just a highway stop
for him.”
The detective nodded dejectedly. Then,
as he meditated over the chief’s state-
ment, he brightened. “There’s one angle
we haven't considered yet.”
“What’s that?”
“The killer may have been from out of
town, like you say,” Pierce went on.
“Also, chances are he’s got a prison
record—most holdup men have.”
“But we've got circulars out on all
escaped convicts—” .
“Maybe he didn’t escape, but was
paroled, in some other county, possibly
im some other state,” Pierce continued.
“It would take a long time to check
parolees of the whole United States,”
Eddins objected.
“We can start with Alabama,” Pierce
said. “I’m wiring all prisons and reforma-
tories in the state to send me records and
photos of all men released within the last
six months,”
While waiting for replies to come in,
Pierce began checking reports of recent
unsolved robberies. He soon learned that
W. F. Welsh at the Mutual Oil Station
had been robbed just a week before the
Goatley slaying. The detective went to
see Welsh at once to ask about possible
details which were not included in the
routine police report.
“First of all, what did the guy look
like?” the detective asked him.
“He had blond hair which he wore
slicked back,” Welsh told him. “He was
middle sized. I’d say he weighed between
135-and 140. I, didn’t notice his clothes
much, All I remember is that he wore a
blue sport shirt.”
This description fitted that of Goatley’s
slayer, and Pierce asked eagerly, “Re-
member the kind of a gun he had?”
“Tl never forget it,” Welsh replied. “It
was a .38 blue steel Colt.”
This clinched it for Pierce. The man
who had held up Welsh was no doubt
\
EE ERE
FSS
eae ee
—e t
Sa
an
———
—_—
“You're sure there wasn’t anyone with the gunman?”
Pierce asked the counterman. ; :
“He seemed to be alone,” Spray said. “At least, he didn’t
speak to anyone except me, and then only to order two ham-
burgers,and a hot dog.” F
Pierce.examined the spot behind the counter where Goat-
ley had fallen, but as the doctor had surmised the bullet
must have remained in the victim’s head. At least, Pierce
could find no trace of the slug.
He looked up in time to see Norrell, McDowell and Pat-
tie coming in the door. “Any luck out there?” he asked.
“Anybody see the gunman escaping?”
Norrell, who is now chief of detectives in Birmingham,
shook his head. “He must have gotten away before the
crowd gathered. If he came in a car, nobody saw it. If he
escaped on foot, he dodged around between houses so ¢lev-
erly nobody spotted him.”
None of the witnesses had noticed what kind of a gun the
killer had used. After jotting down their names and ad-
dresses Pierce allowed them to go home.
Then began a flurry of routine work. A fingerprint ex-
pert examined the counter where the gunman had eaten his
snack. But the gunman was either lucky or careful, for
there were no prints suitable for comparison. After a
police photographer had snapped pictures of the scene,
Pierce padlocked the shop, Then he and the others set out -
to question residents in the neighborhood.
. An hour’s tedious effort brought no results. Finally,
Pierce said, “We're wasting our time, boys. Let’s call it
quits out here and see if Mrs. Goatley can give us a lead.”
At the Goatley home, the officers learned that Mrs.
Goatley had already been informed of the tragedy and had
|
/
*
a
hastened to her husband’s side. They hurried to /the hos-
pital, only to learn that Goatley had died before reaching
there. They found the grief-stricken young widow at the
mortuary. :
When asked about personal enemies, she shook her head.
“George didn’t have any,” she declared. “The killer must
have been after money.”
“He asked for money,” Pierce admitted. “But he didn’t
take any. He took your husband’s life instead.”
“Tt does look odd,” she agreed, “But if George had
trouble with anybody, either business or personal, I don’t
know about it.”
Mrs. Goatley gave Pierce the names of her husband’s
_ immediate relatives and close friends so he could. check
further on the personal angle. Obtaining the death bullet,
Pierce hurried downtown and gave it to a ballistics expert.
“I'd like to know what caliber gun this was fired from,” he
said. “And if possible, the make of gun.”
While waiting for the expert’s report, Pierce contacted
the prowl cars which had been assigned to comb the West
End district for suspects in blue sport shirts, But he got no
encouraging news. “If the killer was on foot he did a quick
fadeout,” Norrell maintained. “My guess is that he had a
car waiting for him.”
Pierce thought so too. Although it was past midnight,
he called Chief of Police Floyd N. Eddins at his home and
told him what had happened.
“Put every available officer on twenty-four hour duty,”
Eddins promptly ordered.
Pierce lost no time in getting the men together and or-
ganizing them for action. He assigned one group to the
railroad yards in case the slayer tried to leave town by
Detective Charles L. Pierce, left, uncovered the link between the marked revolver and the blond
gunman. J. R. Norrell, now chief of detectives, was first to figure out the mystery of the getaway.
STARTLING
Goatley’s murderer, “Could you identif
that ee gun if you saw it again?”
he asked, ‘
“TI certainly could,” the man replied. “I
noticed there was a screw missing from
the little piece under the cylinder. I could
identify the gun by that.”
“That should help us a lot,” Pierce
assured him, He went back to head-
quarters and gave the gun’s description
to the pawnshop squad,
By this time Pierce had begun receiv-
ing lists of men recently paroled from
Alabama penal institutions. One such
man, John Earl Mobley, had gotten a job
in Birmingham. He had been released
from Draper Prison where he had been
serving 250 days on a forgery charge.
Pierce’s hopes fell when he read
Mobley’s description, however. The
notice listed him as being dark and in his
late 20’s. Even so, he resolved to have the
man checked. :
Just then one of the witnesses looking
over photographs in the police files
walked into the Detective Bureau waving
a picture in his hands. “This looks like
the man who shot Mr. Goatley!” he ex-
claimed. |
Pierce studied the picture, then read
the identification, The photo was of one
John Farrel, and the description read
bs much like that of Goatley’s ‘slayer.
he detective hurried out to the Bir-
mingham address listed on the photo only
to find that Farrel was not there.
“John has moved,” the landlord in-
formed the detective. :
“Have any idea where he went?”
Pierce inquired.
My HES been looking for work in Besse-
mer. Maybe you could find him
out there,” the man suggested.
The detective knew he had little chance
of finding John Farrel among the steel
area’s thousands without an address or
some lead. Since Farrel had been looking
for work, however, it was reasonable to
suppose that he might apply at the
United States Employment Service in
Birmingham,
Pierce hurried to the employment
bureau and quickly found Farrel’s name
‘on its books, but the address given was
the one he had already checked. He
talked to the man in charge and soon
learned that Farrel was one of several
who had signed up to go to Pasco, Wash.
to work in a war plant. Furthermore,
Farrel had left Birmingham for Pasco on
Wednesday, July 12, the day following
the Goatley murder!
The detective lost no time in querying
the plant in Pasco by wire about John
Farrel. In less than three hours he re- -
ceived a telegram stating that Farrel
had stayed in Pasco only a few days, had
quit. his job and according to fellow
workers, had moved on to Portland, Ore.
Pierce immediately telegraphed au-
thorities in Portland, requesting they hold
“pk Farrel for him. In twenty-four
ours, word came back that Portland
Police could find no trace of the wanted °
man,
Contact with Farrel’s relatives drew a
blank. Pierce, however, learned that
Farrel’s wife had gone to live with her
mother in Tennessee. He went there at
once and inquired for Mrs. Farrel.
“She isn’t at home, just now,” said the
woman who came to the door, “but is
there anything I can do to help you?”
_. “IT want to find out where John Farrel
is,” Pierce told her. “There’s been a hold-
up murder in Birmingham and Farrel is
54
i
said to look a lot like the man who did the
killing.”
The woman went into another room
and came back with a letter and a news-
‘ paper clipping, saying, “John sent this to
Molly from Los Angeles.”
The detective glanced at the clipping.
It was an account of the Goatley murder,
Then he read the letter. In it Farrel had
said, “Any guy can get into trouble like
this without intending to.”
Pierce went back to Birmingham and
in a few hours he and Norrell were on
their way to Los Angeles,
Farrel was at the address his mother-
in-law had supplied, and it was only a
short time after they arrived in the coast
city that Pierce and Norrell were on
their way back to Birmingham with their,
prisoner, They questioned him several
times during the lengthy trip but all
Farrel had to say was, “Fellows, you’ve
been given a bum steer. I'm not the man
you want,” * a
“You'd better have a good alibi for the
night of July 11 at 8:55 o'clock,” Pierce
reminded him,
“T have,” Farrel replied quietly. “I was
in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on that night and
I can prove it as soon as we get back
to Birmingham.”
“What about that letter you wrote your
wife?” -Pierce countered. “You hinted
that you might have taken part in the
crime.”
“All I said was, any guy can get into
trouble like that without intending to.
I still say it. But I’m not the guy in this
case.”
“But you left town in a hurry after
Goatley was killed,” Pierce said.
“Pure coincidence,” said Farrel. “I had
to get a job, and when I heard About
transportation being paid to Pasco I fig-
ured it was a chance for a job and a lot
of traveling besides. But when I got there,
I didn’t. like it. The climate didn’t agree
with me.”
When the party got back to Birming-
ham, Farrel gave a detailed account of
his whereabouts for more than two days
previous to his departure for Pasco.
While detectives were out checking this
alibi, Farrel was placed in the lineup and
the witnesses to Goatley’s slaying were
asked to view him.
The witnesses peered into the bright
glare for a long time. Finally, one of
them shook his head. “The man who shot
Mr. Goatley is not up-there.” he said.
And the other witnesses agreed with him.
By that time, detectives returned with
word that Farrel’s alibi had.checked out
perfectly. He had been at the home of a
friend in Tuscaloosa at the very time
George Goatley had been shot.
Pierce’s mind went back to the. wit-
nesses’ testimony and what one of them
said about the slayer giving some girls
“the eye.” Maybe the blond bandit had
had a girl waiting for him outside, in a
car. Or maybe he had taken a girl into
vhis confidence.
Then the detective brought himself
back to reality. There wasn’t even a girl:
in the picture. His only hope, now, he
figured, was to trace the death gun, some-
how. And to check all the .38 Colt Specials
in Birmingham would take months. He
decided to double the detail working the
pawnshop angle.
When he contacted the sergeant in
charge the officer said, “We were just
trying to call you. We've checked a lot
of: Colt Specials and they’ve all been
accounted for but one.”
“And who owns that one?” Pierce de-
manded.
“It belongs to a Walter Griffin,” the
officer replied, “He hasn’t got it and he
says he doesn’t know where it is.”
Pierce and Norrell hurried out to Grif-
fin’s home.
First, they asked him if there was a
screw missing from his gun. The’ man
nodded his head slowly. “Yes, there is.
But why do you want to know? And
what are all these questions for?”
The detective'’s face was grave. “A gun
answering the description of the one you
own was used to kill George Goatley,”
he told him, “We've got to check on it to
make certain. Now where is it?”
There was a shadow of alarm on Grif-
fin’s face. “I loaned my .38 to Ralph
Evans,” he said, “But surely you don’t
think Ralph had anything to do with the
killing.”
“We're not drawing any conclusions
yet.” Pierce said crisply. “But we do want
to find that particular Colt Special.”
Griffin gave the officer the address of
a firm in downtown Birmingham where
Evans worked, A few minutes later they
were talking to the man about Griffin's
gun. '
“I haven’t got it,” Evans told them.
“I borrowed it for another man.”
“And who is he?” asked Pierce.
“John Earl Mobley,” Evans replied.
The detective started. He remembered
that Mobley had served time in Draper
Prison. “Did Mobley say what he wanted
the gun for?” he asked.
“Sure. He said he was going to Camp
Hill, Ala., in his car and he wanted a gun
in case he got into trouble.”
PIERCE mulled over Mobley’s descrip-
tion. Although it was far from that of
Goatley’s slayer, Mobley owned a car -
and could have been waiting outside the
hamburger shop for the gunman,
“I don’t know whether he’s in trouble
or not,” he told Evans, “But I’m going
to check on him, anyway. Got any idea
where he is?”
“T haven't seen him since the night he
said he was leaving for Camp Hill,” Evans
replied.
“And when was that?” asked the de-
tective.
“The seventh of July,” Evans replied.
This startled Pierce. July 7 was the
night W. F. Welsh was held up at the
Mutual Oil Station. Had Mobley fur-
pone both the gun and the car for that
job?
“Was Mobley alone?” he asked Evans.
“No,. there was another young man
with him, and a girl.”
“Know who they were?”
“T know the girl. She’s Arline O’Connor,
But I never saw the man before and it
was sort of dark there and I couldn’t see
what he looked like.” _~
“Do you know where I can find the
girl?” : ;
“I ‘think she lives in a hotel around
Twenty-second Street and Fifth Avenue
North.” ;
Warning Evans to stay in town in case
he wanted to get in touch with him again,
Pierce returned to headquarters and
wired authorities in Camp Hill to detain
Mobley for questioning, then went: in
search of Arline O’Connor. He canvassed
several small hotels before he succeeded
in finding a clerk who said he recalled
the attractive girl, but he hadn't. seen
her since early in July.
“Was she with anyone the last time
you saw her?” ;
“Yes, a young, good looking blond
fellow.”
Wa
youn
Goat
knew
John
nae
Inside of the lunchroom where Goatley was slain. Police searched
for two main suspects—a
blond-haired man who sat at the counter,
and a girl who occupied one of the booths shortly before the killing
He questioned Spray further. The
waiter said that ‘Goatley had just
brought in a bowl of sliced onions from
the kitchen. He placed the bowl on the
shelf by the stove, then started back to
the kitchen. He was just in the door-
way when a woman screamed and the
shot was fired.
—DDINS already had determined that
Goatley had been shot in the back
. of the head. The bullet had not come
out the front of the skull. Then who-
‘. ever killed Goatley must have been in
~ the crowded little lunchroom, and not
*) in the kitchen—not unless Goatiey had
seen the killer in the kitchen and
turned and started back into the res-
taurant.
It all seemed so simple and yet so
confusing—that a murder could be
~. Committed: in such a small place and
with at least fifteen witnesses, and yet
no one knew who the killer was 0!
where he had gone, \
Or, if amyone did kriow, he or she
certainly wasn’t saying anything about
it, Perhaps they were afraid of being
involved deeper in the investigation,
Eddins got the name and address of
tveryone in the hamburger house, then
told them all to leave. He asked Spray
to remain ‘behind for awhile.
As the coroner supervised the re-
moval of Goatley’s body to the morgue,
Eddins started questioning the young
waiter about the private life of the
dead man.
Goatley was a married man, Spray
said, and lived not far from the res
, taurant. He had owned and operated
the West End Hamburger Shop for
the past ten years. Spray said he knew
/0f no one who would want to take
Goatley’s life because of an old grudge.
No one had touched the cash register,
-80 that seemed to discount robbery.
. Then what was the motive? Surely it
was revenge. Eddins could see no other
reason for this cold-blooded slaying.
And yet—why had the killer picked
such a bold method of murdering his
victim? If it was a job of revenge, why
hadn't he shot Goatley when no one
else was around—maybe when the
hamburger shop owner drove to his
home after work. It didn’t make sense.
Eddins left Officer G. L. Pattie in the
lunchroom as a guard to see that noth-
ing was disturbed, and sent Spray
home. Eddins then went outside to
check with his men whom he had
searching the grounds around where
the crime had taken place.
Detective J. R. Norrell had picked up
the only lead. With the officer was a
man who lived two blocks down Tusca-
loosa. Avenue. The-man said he had
been returning home from an early
show. He saw a car parked on 13th
Street, just off Tuscaloosa Avenue, fac-
ing Cotton Avenue. A man was in the
car, smoking. The witness said that
he walked past the hamburger shop
and had gone about 25 feet when he
heard a shot and some screams. He
turned around and saw a man run to
the car, open the door and jump in;
then the car sped away down 13th
Street.
Eddins eyed the man closely. : “Are
you sure that just one man got into
the car ... after the shot was fired?”
“Yes, Sir. I was already suspicious of
that car, and when I heard those shots
I looked right at it. I thought at first
the shots had come from the machine,
then I saw that man run to the car and
it drove off, Hell bent for election.”
“You say you were already suspicious
of the car. Why?”
“Because when the man in the car
saw me walking down Thirteenth
Street, he got out of the car and stood
beside it, watching me. He had his
hand in his coat pocket, like he had a
gun in it.”
Eddins rubbed his chin slowly. “That
puts two men in on the job. By the
way, did you notice a woman around
anywhere?”
“A~woman?” the man asked, sur-
prised. “Nope. Just those two men.”
“Can you describe the car?”
MGURE can. I looked at it very good
when I got suspicious of that guy.
‘It was a 1940 model Chevrolet. It had
two doors and it was black. And the
right rear fender was bent in.”
“Nice going. Now, how about that
— who stood by the car, watching
you ”
“Couldn’t see him too good. But he
was a big-looking fellow and he had
sort of a tough face. At least, it looked
that way to me. He was about twenty-
five or thirty, I’d say.”
Eddins hesitated a moment. “That
fellow who ran to the car after the
shooting. Did he come from the front
or the rear of the lunchroom?” .
“Couldn’t tell for sure. But I think
he came from the rear.”
The Chief thought this over, The
killer must have hid in the kitchen of
the hamburger shop. Goatley saw him
when he started back to the kitchen,
then turned. The man let him have it
‘in the back of the head. Still, this wit-
ness here wasn't certain whether the
.
Police wondered how
a killer could strike in
this hamburger shop,
and still be unseen by
the customers in it
George Goatley: Of-
ficials had to learn
why this man, a friend
to everyone, was
picked for homicide
1e
1e
{
{
Was Arline O’Connor’s friend the
young gunman who had killed George
Goatley? j f
Pierce redoubled his search for the
girl. It took him several days but he
finally found her. He explained what he
knew about her being in the car with
John Earl Mobley when he borrowed a
gun from Ralph Evans. :
“So what?” she asked. “Any harm in
that?”
The detective did some fast thinking.
If he let her know he suspected the gun
was used in a murder she might never
talk. “We think the gun was used in a
‘robbery, at the Mutual Oil Station on
the night of July 7,” he stated.
The girl’s face went dead white. This
meant she did know something about the
holdup. He immediately taxed her with it.
“I begged the boys not to do it,” she
said, “But they didn’t pay any attention
to me. They went ahead and robbed the
oil station anyway.”
“Who else was in it besides Mobley?”
Pierce asked.
“Steve was in it; Steve Pilley. He and
Earl did time together in Draper Prison.
He’s been paroled about two months.
Steve went in and took the money from
the oil station man.” ‘
“What does Steve look like?” the de-
tective asked her.
“He’s got blond hair and a fair skin
and blue eyes. He’s somewhere in his
early twenties.”
“And he's of medium weight and
medium height?” Pierce prodded her.
The girl gave him a long look. “Yes.
That’s right. And I hope,I never see him
again |”
66 HY?” asked Pierce, keeping his
voice of fact. “Did you and Steve
quarrel about something?” rata
“You bet your life we did,” she replied
quickly. “He wanted me to keep that gun
he used in the filling station holdup. I
figured he might be trying to frame me
and I refused.”
“When did you last see Steve Pilley?”
he asked her.
“Tt must have been the night of July
13,” she. said. sit
“And you'd been together from the
time of the oil station holdup?” Pierce
inquired.
“Off and on,” she said. “Why?”
Pierce was silent for a moment. Then
he said. “You read the newspapers, don’t
you?” and when she nodded, he con-
tinued, “Didn’t you read about the young
man who killed George Goatley? Didn’t
you figure that your blond Romeo might
have had something to do with it when
he tried to get you to take the gun?”
Arline O’Connor turned pale. “Oh, no.
He couldn’t have killed anybody.” —
“Why couldn’t he? According to your
own testimony he was around Birming-
ham during that time.” :
“Well, if he did,” the girl said, “that
could explain why he wanted to get ‘rid
of the gun.”
Of course, Pierce realized, all this was
not conclusive. There could be two .38
Colt Specials in Birmingham with screws
missing. And though the description of
Pilley tallied with the description of
_Goatley’s killer, John Farrel’s description
had tallied, too, and he had been innocent.
There was only one thing to do, Pierce
realized. He must get Pilley into the
lineup and let the witnesses view him. He
put out an arrest and hold order on the -
young parolee at once. In the next few
hours, dozens of police officers searched
IN SHORT
@A new and effective catch-all for
‘burglars was found by Tulsa, Okla., police
when they answered an alarm call from
a food market. .The intruder had entered
through a skylight and stepped onto a”
false ceiling which gave way under his
weight, dropping him into a sixty-gallon
barrel of dill pickles, The burglar, ad-
mitting his foray had ended on a sour
note, went along peacefully smelling like
something that usually is served up with
ham and cheese on rye.
@The methods of the robbers who
knocked off the safe in Bohack’s Super
Market, at Kew Gardens, Queens, N. Y.,
may have been old-fashioned but their
knowledge of present living conditions
was up to the minute. They used nitro-
glycerin to blow open the iron strong-
box. Members of the Safe and Loft
police squad said this was the first time
in twelve years “soup” had been used for ©
such a job. Five hundred dollars was
taken from the safe by the dated’ cul-
‘prits, who also.catried off a tub of scarce-
and precious butter.
“@The faces of certain Los Angeles, Cal.,
policemen are very red—and not from
the sun! Four coppers holding a burglary
suspect Daniel. Joseph Chusta, turned
him over at the jail detention room to
the custody of a \‘plainclothesman” who
told them, “I want Chusta.” The “plain-
clothesman” had gained admittance to
the detention room by presenting his
“credentials.” Taking Chusta over, he
handcuffed the suspect, picked up his gun
and the two left. A few minutes later
another policeman presented a formal
claim for the prisoner . . . who by this
time was well on his way to freedom
with his suave accomplice.
@In Atlanta, Ga., George T. Bagby has
an added incentive in his work with the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He is
minus a new suit of clothes that someone
lifted from his parked car. But the thief
probably is having his difficulties, too.
Mr. Bagby is only five feet four inches
tall and weighs but 135 pounds.
@If a new dress shop opens soon in
the Chicago area, Mrs. Esther Snider of
5307 Hyde Park will be one of its first
customers, just out of curiosity. Recently
thieves broke into her own store, the
Snider Cotton shop, and made away with
$5,000 worth of dresses and- slacks—
“Enough stock to set up the robbers in a
clothing store venture of their own.”
Birmingham in vain for the wanted man.
Pierce wired Draper Prison for Pilley’s
record and when it arrived he noted that
the young blond had gone to. work in
Mobile, Ala., when he had been paroled
the previous May 18. On the chance that
Pilley might have returned to Mobile,
the detective wired police there to hold
him for questioning.
A few days later, Pierce received word
from the sheriff’s office in Mobile that
they had recovered the gun with a missing
screw from a man who asserted he had
bought it from a blond youth for $20.
Through this sale, the Mobile police
tracked down Pilley and wired Pierce
that they were keeping him under strict
surveillance.
Detective Pierce went to Mobile at
once and in cooperation with the authori-
ties there arrested Steve Pilley. The
young man promptly denied any con-
nection with the killing of George
Goatley. > '
Leaving him in the Mobile jail, Pierce
wired Norrell to meet him and'‘the two
of them went to Camp Hill and took
John Earl Mobley into custody and es-
corted him to Mobile. They questioned
Mobley carefully and when he continued
to’ deny knowing anything about the
murder, they faced him with Griffin's
.38 Colt Special.
“All we have to do is take Pilley back
to Birmingham.and place him in the line- .
up to make certain if he is the man we're
looking for,” Pierce told Mobley. “You
know better than I do what the answer
will be. And you can make it easier for
yourself, if you'll tell us what you know.”
OBLEY’S head sank forward as he
nodded, “Steve held up the oil sta--
tion, all right. And he went: into the
hamburger shop, too, on the night of
July 11. ;
“Then Steve is the young man who
shot George Goatley?” Pierce queried.
“T didn’t see him do it,” Mobley went
on, “I waited for him in a car parked
on Thirteenth Street, just off Tuscaloosa
Avenue. He came running to the car and
told me he had shot a man, so we got
away from there fast.”
Mobley then dictated a lengthy state-
ment as to the filling station holdup and
the Goatley murder and signed it in the,
presence of witnesses.
Steve Pilley was brought in and faced
with Mobley and his statement.- He
readily confessed and the details of his
statement coincided with the bits of in-
formation Detective Pierce and his aides
had pieced together. Pilley said he had
become frightened when Goatley ignored
his’ command to stop and pulled the
trigger before he thought.
Pilley and Mobley were brought back
to Birmingham at once. Pilley was placed
in the lineup and four witnesses to the
Goatley slaying pointed him out as the
guilty man, : ¢
It was October 14, 1944, when Pilley
and Mobley were arrested. Back in Bir-
mingham they were immediately charged
with murder. Pilley was brought to trial
late in 1944 and on December 6 was found
guilty of first degree murder and sen-
tenced to death.
On October 8, 1945, Mobley entered a
plea of guilty and his punishment was
fixed at life imprisonment. |
(The names of John Farrel, Arline O'Connor,
Walter Griffin and Ralph Evans are fictitious to
votect the sdentities 4. ersons innocently involved
in the investigation.—_The Editor.)
55
By the Red S$
Route to Murderers
from his face with the white apron
which he had tied about his waist.
It was a hot July night—but it was cold
sweat on the waiter’s face. His hand
shook so much that he hardly could
hold the cigarette which Police Chief
Floyd N. Eddins was offering to light
for him.
“It all took place so fast,” Spray said,
drawing a quick puff from his cigar-
ette, “that I hardly remember what
happened. I know some woman
screamed. Then everybody in the place
seemed to scream. I heard: some gun
shots... then I saw George staggering
like something had hit him.”
The waiter glanced from the side
of his eyes at the still form of the young
man who lay on the floor behind the
counter not ten feet away. A large
pool of blood had formed under the
man’s head.
Police Chief Eddins motioned to-
ward the crowd that was gathered in
a group at one end of the West End
Hamburger Shop on Tuscaloosa Ave-
nue.
34
Bt: Spray wiped the perspiration
“Look these people over,” he said to
Spray. “Tell me if anyone is missing
. » anyone who was here when your
boss was shot.”
Spray was shaking his head. “I don’t
know if I remember everyone who was
here.” He looked quickly over the
crowd. “There was a blond fellow
about twenty years old. I don’t see
him. And there was a girl about
eighteen years old. She wore a red
sweater, I don’t remember whether she
had left before the shooting or not.
na I say, there was so much confu-
on,”
AN OFFICER was standing guard at
the front and one at the rear en-
trance of the lunchroom to see that
no one left the place and mixed with
the crowd of Birmingham, Alabama,
citizens clustered about outside.
“All right,” Eddins said. “We'll
start with the blond-haired man. Tell
me about him.”
“Well, he had blue eyes and a fair
skin—quite handsome. His hair was
combed straight back, sort of slicked
By
Herbert
Mason
Special Investigator for
OFFICIAL DETECTIVE
STORIES
.
With the Clew of a Girl in a
Red Sweater, Where Could
Birmingham, Alabama, Officials
Turn to Find the Killer Whom
Thirty Eyes Failed to See?
weater
down flat to his head, I’d say.”
“Was he large or small?”
“About five feet, ten inches. And
he weighed about a hundred and forty
pounds. He came in and orderéd two
hamburgers. He sat at the counter.”
“He wasn’t with the girl in the red.
sweater?”
41\ 10. SHE sat alone in a booth. She
looked awfully nervous. She or-
dered three cups of coffee. No ham-
burgers. She smoked one cigarette
after another and kept looking out of
the window as if she was expecting
someone.” ;
“Pretty?” \
“Very much so. Dressed nicely, too.”
“Did she come in before or after this
blond man who sat at the counter?”
Spray once more wiped his face with
the white apron. He glanced again at
the lifeless body of George Goatley on
the floor.
_ “She came in before,” Spray replied,
turning back to’Chief Eddins. “She
came in about fifteen minutes before
this fellow did.”
“And you think either the girl or the
man killed Goatley?” ~
“It looks like it. Whoever killed him
would surely leave the lunchroom as
fast as possible, don’t you think?” -
Eddins looked again at the people in
the restaurant. They numbered about
fifteen. Everyone was staring at him.
One woman was sobbing softly. -A man
had his arms about her shoulders, try- .
ing to quiet her. The faces of the othe:
were drawn tightly in fear. Fe
HE Chief said he would have to
question and search each of the
* persons there. No one objected. But
no one could offer any more light on
the strange mystery, other than what
the waiter, Robert Spray, already had
told the officers. No ‘one, that is, but
John Franklin. And all he had to say
was that he knew that at least four
persons had left the hamburger shop
immediately after the shooting. One
had gone through the back door of the
lunchroom, through the kitchen. The
others had hurried out the front door.
“The girl in the red sweater left be-
The suspected killers, shortly after their arrest; a dented, right
rear fender was one of the leads which led the police to them
man had run out of the front or rear.
The killer still could have been one of
the persons seated in the restaurant.
And even then he might have disap-
peared out the back door of the build-
ing. Franklin had seen one man in the
lunchroom leave through the back.
Of one thing, Eddins was very cer-
tain. The officers certainly were start-
ing out on this case with little to help
‘them—despite the fact that Goatley
had been murdered in front of more
than fifteen witnesses.
Eddins went to see the stunned wife
of the dead man. Spray already had
told her about the tragedy. She was
composed outwardly, but the grief she
was suffering showed plainly in her
dark eyes. She told the Police Chief
she had no idea what was back of the
murder. So far as she knew, her hus-
band had no enemies.
Back at Headquarters, Eddins called
his men together.
“We're hitting a stone wall every-
where we turn,” he told them... “Our
only clews are that black car, the girl
in the red sweater and the blond young
man. Pretty slim pickings, but we've
got to go to work on them.”
All the men on the force were hand-
ed a description of the two suspects
and the black Chevrolet car. The
descriptions were also given to the
State Police.
“Now,” Eddins said, “we'll hope and
pray...”
UT the Police Chief didn’t just sit
idly by and hold his hands. He called
in Detective Norrell. They talked the
whole case over from every angle. They
were puzzled by the motive, but both
agreed that the murder had definite
tags of a professional killing.
If that were true, then a strong pos-
sibility existed that the killer had been
in trouble before. And if the killer had
been seated in the lunchroom when he
fired the shot, then maybe someone
would recognize him from pictures in
the Rogues’ Gallery.
The next day Eddins and Norrell
rounded up all-the people whose names
and addresses they had gotten at the
hamburger shop. These people were
shown pictures of ex-convicts, but no
36
one was able to pick out the photo of
anyone who had been in Goatley’s place
the night of the murder.
Eddins and Norrell had hit another
stone wall. Where to now?
D4ys passed and even though the offi-
cers worked feverishly on the case,
they got nowhere. The coroner had
removed the death-slug—a .38—from
Goatley’s skull. It was steel jacketed
and was pretty well preserved. It could
be used in a ballistics test, if the death-
weapon were ever located.
So Eddins put his Pawn Shop Detail
to work, checking all the loan shops
in Birmingham. The information about
the death-gun also was passed on to the
State Police.
All these leads were helpful, made
the officers feel they were making a lit-
tle progress. But the big boost in
morale came just five days after the
murder. That very day it looked as if
Detective J. R. Norrell: Early in
the search he found a man
who thought he saw the killers
Officer Charles Pierce: He was one of
the officials who broke what a suspect
firmly believed to be a perfect alibi
the whole thing might be tied up in a
package ready for the district attorney.
Officer J. Ms McDowell was cruising
on Fifth Avenue, North, near the down-
town area, when he spotted an auto
answering the description of the kill-
er’s getaway car. It was a black, two-
door Chevrolet; and the right rear
fender, although not then bent, ob-
viously had been straightened recent-
ly, but had’ not yet been repainted.
The car was parked in front of a
rooming-house.
Cyucesy checking the license tag,
Eddins learned that the car be-
longed to Carol Higley. That meant a
lot of things, chief of which was the
fact that Carol’s ex-husband, Robert
Higley, was an ex-convict who had been
out of prison for six months.
In spite of the fact that the two no
longer were married, police had proof
that they had been seeing each other.
DDINS had a guard in plain clothes
posted at the rooming-house to
watch everyone who came and left the
place—and especially to look for Bob
Higley. Eddins decided against exposing
his hand at the moment by questioning
Carol Higley.
A Rogues’ Gallery picture of Bob
Higley was shown to all the persons
who had been in the hamburger shop
the night of the murder—even though
it had been among the photos they had
seen before. This time one person said
he “thought” that Higley was in the
restaurant that night. But this person
was so indefinite that Eddins didn’t
put much faith in his words. Still,
Higley might have been the man wait-
ing in the car.
However, a quick check on Higley
through the Parole Board turned up
much more interesting information.
After leaving prison, Higley had gone
to Bessemer, Alabama, and there ap-
plied to the U. S. Employment office
for work in a war plant on the West
Coast. He had left Bessemer on July
12—the day after the murder—for a
war plant at Pasco, Washington.
Eddins immediately wired the police
at Pasco to check on Higley and ques-
tion him about the murder, But a wire
came back that Higley already had
left the plant at Pasco, saying that he
was going to Portland, Oregon, to work.
So Eddins sent a pick-up order for the
man’s arrest to the Portland police. .
au HIGLEY looks warm,” Eddins said,
quickly lighting a cigarette, “but
he’s no cinch catch yet. Keep an eye
on his ex-wife. Maybe there’s a more
recent man in her life who’s tied up in
this thing.” :
Eddins’ suspicions were well founded.
Two days later, Detective Charles
Pierce came in with an interesting bit
of information he had dug up while
checking on the woman’s background. :
(Continued on Page 44)
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“No.” The woman raised up on her
seat. “But she’s not one of them kind
- of girls—if that’s what you want. to
know. I don’t keep girls like that in
my house.”
sure you don't,” Eddins said.
“But Miss Hall does have a boy friend,
no doubt. Is that right?”
The woman thought a moment. “Yes
++. anyway, she did have. I haven't
seen him around lately. She used to
drive his car a lot. They were engaged,
I think. Seemed like a very nice young
“Could you describe him for us?”
' “Oh, he was a young man, not too
big, but nicely dressed. Wore good
clothes. Had blond hair.”
The officers didn't show it, but their
interest in Betty Hall was growing even
more rapidly.
“You say she drove his car quite a
“bit—what kind of a car was it?”
“A black Chevvy.”
“I see.” Eddins was trying to remain
calm. Norrell was attempting to do the
same. But both officers were tense with
excitement. They'd walked into some-
thing important here all right, and no
doubt about it. i
Eddins became a little more bold.
“Did you ever notice anythin:
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thing though. He could be the one.”
Eddins immediately wired the Los
Angeles police to arrest Higley and hold
him for questioning on the murder.
Higley was picked up at his home, of-
fering no resistance. Eddins sent a
couple of men to bring him back to
Birmingham. Higley came with them
willingly.
He was a man about 35 years old, tall,
but rather underweight. He had
Sheriff Keith Moore taking Alfred Owen, the accused killer of Ray Cole,
after
to jail shortly after his
. With the clews which were provided for
you, how good a detective did you prove to be? Story begins on Page 16
brown, curly hair. It could have been
mistaken for blond under poor lights.
But he was taller than the man the
waiter in Goatley’s lunchroom had
described.
Higley admitted writing the letter,
sending the news clipping and stating,
“Any guy can get into trouble like that
without intending to.”
“But that doesn't say I killed Goat-
ley.” Higley kept insisting. “In fact, I
don’t know a thing about that. I was
in a hotel in Bessemer the night that
happened. I checked into the place
avout half-past eight. I couldn't have
been here to kill Goatley at five of nine
that night, which was when the Papers
said he was murdered.”
Higley gave the officers the name
of the hotel where he had stayed in
Bessemer. Eddins checked the alibi by
—* Higley had been telling the
Even when he was put in the line-up,
nothing happened. None of the ham-
burger shop patrons could identify him
as having been in the eating place the
night of the crime. So Higley was re-
leased, with an offer to pay his way
back to California. But he refused, say-
ing he would rather’ stay there “until
this thing is cleared up.”
Eddins and Norrell had just about
reached the depths of despair when
the Chief got a telephone call from the
Mobile police. The 38 caliber Colt Spe-
cial had been located in a pawn shop
there. A blond-haired young man, who
answered the description of the “mys-
tery” man they had been chasing, had
sold the gun—for $20.
ORRELL went to Mobile. more than
200 miles south, and got the gun.
The blond-haired fellow who sold it
had given his name as “Fred Edwards,”
but undoubtedly that was a phony.
Eddins again placed a State-wide
pickup order for the suspect. hoping
against hope that the man would be
located sooner or later, just from his
description.
At the same time, Eddins sent the
pistol to the FBI, along with the death-
bullet. The report came back that the
gun had fired the fatal shot into Goat-
ley’s head.
Eddins sighed in relief. “At last,
we've got something definite. Now if
we could just lay our hands on’ that
blond-haired bird.” .
Nothing new had developed with
Betty Hall. If she knew she was being
followed, she gave no indication of it.
She didn’t get any mail, however, and
the officers thought that a bit strange.
Neither did the “blond boy friend”
show up any more.
But Miss Hall suddenly offered the
officers plenty of excitement when De-
tective Pierce came in with the news
that a black Chevrolet with smashed
right rear fender had showed up at
Miss Hall's address. But she was driv-
ing it, and no man had been around.
The detective had gotten the num-
ber of the license tag, however. It was
a Georgia tag.
“Find out who the owner of the tag
is as soon as you can,” Eddins ordered.
At the same time, he put an officer on
the job of watching the car every min-
ute. Maybe Miss Hall would meet the
owner soon.
The Birmingham Police Headquar-
ters hummed with excitement. now.
Were they drawing toward the end of a
trail of investigation, over which they
had labored for the past three months?
Ro officers hesitated even to hope for
The biggest surprise yet awaited
them, however, when the report came
back that the owner of the black car
which Miss Hall had been driving was
John Mobley!
“But he had an alibi," Eddins said
dazedly, recalling the arrest of Mo-
bley when they were trailing down the
gun. “He was at Camp Hill the night
of the murder.”
DETECTIVE PIERCE, however, be-
gan checking the alibi more closely.
And he learned from the friends who
had been at the party Mobley claimed
he had been attending that fatal night,
that they only “thought” Mobley bad
been with them. He was “supposed” to
have been there, they said; and soon
it was established definitely that he
actually did come to the party—but
about midnight. But no one could re-
member his being there earlier in the
evening.
Eddins worked rapidly after that.
Mobley and Betty Hall were arrested
immediately and brought to Headquar-
ters.
Eddins told the two about the secret
investigation which had been going on;
told them about the black Chevro-
let, about the gun, about the manager
45
of the rooming-house. about the man had the gun with him. He said he was me to wait for him. First thing I knew 1944, when he was found guilty of mur- ye Pagon yo —s
who waited in the black car outside in trouble and wanted to leave the gun he came running out of that cafe and der and sentenced to death in the stickup, gave a pretty good imitation
the Goatley hamburger shop while there. Pilley left it there that night. jumped into the car and said to get go- electric chair. His execution was sched- of it. They pinched him, and when
someone murdered Goatley. but the next night she told him he ing, that he'd killed a man.” uled for March 8, but was postponed they started questioning him, he im
“Now,” Eddins said, “we want the would have to take it away. He became “Why did he want to kill Goatley?” when his case was appealed. As OFFI- mediately got involved in Galcadie-
truth. It could go a lot easier with angry and left. That was the last she Eddins asked. CIAL DETECTIVE STORIES goes to tions. He said that he was from De
you if you tell it to us straight. Who saw of him. “1 don’t know. He would never say.” press, no new date has been set for the troit and gave the address; but a f s
was the blond man who did the shoot- “Do you know where he is now?” electrocution. minutes later, since he had a tog
2% SHE said that Mobley and Steve Mobley hesitated a moment and ly dreamed up the first address. ga a
tty Hall started crying. Frighten- Pilley were good friends and that Eddins said, “It might go easier with }AOBLEY. after much manipulation, second one, denying he had Sides peta
ed. she broke down easily. “It was Mobley often let them use his car. you if you tell us.” came to trial on October 8. 1945. ; omad a different ane. a men-
Steve—my sweetheart. Or. he was ‘After Steve disappeared, Mobley came That did it. Mobley said softly,“He’s But in a surprise move Mobley pleaded Pete Novak, he said ” A search >.
my sweetheart. I don’t know where to see her several times and told her working in the shipyards at Mobile.” guilty and was -sentenced to life in rooming-house ehare he hed Seacked
he is.” she could use the car whenever she Eddins wired this information to the the State prison. in only a few hours before yielded what
wanted to. Mobile police and two hours later Steve The officers never were able to de- 1 was possibly a very important link with
T= young woman with the red Mobley then said that Betty was Pilley was under arrest. He was termine absolutely what the motive the Beh case—a .45 pi oa Smith &
sweater said Steve Pilley had dated telling the truth, and that she hadn’t brought back to Birmingham that was behind the murder. The theory Wesscn. When the Elgin officers com-
her for about two months—ever since known anything about the murder. He same day and he and John Mobley were that came out of much speculation was pared Pete Novak’s a rance with
he had been paroled from Draper said that the reason his car had Georgia both charged with first-degree murder. that Pilley had intended robbing Goat- that on the Gaede’ i inched like
Prison on May 18, where he'd been tags on it was that he had purchased ley, but he lost his head and his nerve Novak was the killer. Age height.
serving time for robbery—but she the auto in that State. THE oitcers were convinced that Betty after the shooting and fled without weight, dark clothes. ‘brown hat—he
thought he was going straight. On the “That night I came to Birmingham Hall knew nothing about the taking anything from the cash regis-
night of the murder, he told her to meet to see Steve,” Mobley said, seeing that actual murder, so she was released. ter. appeared to be the man.
him at the Goatley Hamburger Shop at ‘it was useless now to deny anything. Pilley refused to talk about the
7 p.m. “We were going to Betty's place, but crime. The officers questioned him for The names Carol and Robert Higley,
She waited until 8:30 and left, went Steve said he had a job to do first—a days, but he had an amazing capacity Sam Blondin and Betty Hall are ficti-
back to her room. Steve came to her job he’d been waiting to do a long time. . for silence. And he never would dis- tious to save embarrassment to persons
room about ten o'clock that night. He He wouldn't say what it was, but told cuss the killing even after December.6, innocently involved in this case.
ished place a short time before. Suspic-
ion settled on the man when the Sherif
received a tip that he carried a gun.
searched,
Riddle of Detroit's Roy Gordon Beh (Continued from Page 2) oricun DEETTVE STORIES
:
, og z= were a variety of Army docu-
Haven in time to answer an important tion and he knew that he went to a_ ride with the Holland couple, stuck name the soldier and the girl had ments under different names as well 2s
call. : bar and possibly a hotel in Grand them up, and beat it to Gary—back- pulled out of the Gary file: Gene Col- Chicago pa The date
Holland Police Chief Van Hoff was Haven on the ht. ~ trac’ of the most recent ticket was December
nig king the route Roy Gordon Beh yer. But Gene was in the clear so far
on the wire. Deputies went out to check with had taken on his last ride. as that particular district was con-
“We have one of the two men who Grand Haven bartenders and room “This man must be crazy!” Boeve cerned. A phone inquiry with the
gave a ride to the guy in the Beh car,” clerks. Hopes were high that somebody said. “He kills a man, and what does Michigan State Police Headquarters in
he told Boeve. “I guess you'd better might remember the dapper young man he get out of it? A free ride! Then he Lansing also drew a blank.
come over and talk to him yourself.” with a yen for homicide. hangs ,
So back to Holland he went. the girl, and gets some small change. land they were to learn the full details
The man who was waiting in Van Bor such hopes gradually faded as the" Next he tries to pull that filling-station of the abduction from Pvt. Milewski
Hoff’s office was Phil Stoyer. deputies tramped from place to ‘job, and flops. He must be desperate and his fiancee, Rose i
He grinned as he said, “I drove the place. The answer was “no” all along for :
getaway car.” : the line. couple of more jobs before long. No TH Holland couple said that the
“and you're lucky you didn’t get The dapper young man had cleverly one’s safe as long as
clipped like Beh.” Van Hoff told him. evaded a trap. Either he had taken . Deputy Brouer said, “Maybe the same first half hour of the ride. Then he sud-
“Well, what's up?” the Sheriff asked. cover in @ private home or he had left suy isn’t behind all these things. That denly pulled a gun and said, “Don't
* town with the first driver who was soldier Milewski and his girl couldn't worry or scream. Drive on to Gary and
b a Taex told him. While’ in town that ready to take a chance with a hitch- even settle for one mugshot. They nothing’s going to happen.
afternoon, Stoyer happened to get hiker. picked two different guys. We just The girl told the thug that her par-
| into a conversation with an officer The Sheriff didn’t like the look of never can depend in investigations on ents would worry if she didn’t get home
| whom he knew. Casually the officer things. “This baby is slipping through the reliability of eye-witnesses. Usu- and that they would probably call the
mentioned the slaying—the slaying our fingers!” he remarked, his voice re- ally they're nervous or confused.” police, but that didn’t impress the gun-
which only a small number of people fiecting his displeasure. eats man. He sat there, looking nasty, wav--
knew about. When the policeman had And then the phone rahg. On the THE State Police Officer. Verne Dagen, ing the serviceman on with his gun.
finished Stoyer knew that he and a wire was the Gary, Indiana, Police De-- had this to say, “Beh wasn’t robbed “Keep goin’ or I'll blow your girl's
friend of his had given a lift to the man partment. It was all about an abduc- So we can’t dismiss the: possibility brains out.”
who very likely had slain Beh. tion that had been pulled on that very that the motive. was something else. He uttered a second death threat
“] saw the car off the highway, and day somewhere outside Grand Rapids I understand he was a big shot of some when they were low on gas and had to
then this fellow flagged me,” Stoyer on the route to Holland. The victims sort, and he probably had enemies. It fill up in a service station.
> said. “I asked him whether it was his were two Holland residents. Pvt. Rich- could be kil 3 In Gary, he directed Milewski to a
car, and he told me it was. I offered ard Donald Milewski and his eighteen- More light was to be shed on that dark street, made the couple get out of
; to help him pull it out and went to year-old fiancee, Rose McCormick. theory later that night when the vic- the car, took about $15 from them, and
i. have a look at the damage. Nothing They had picked up a hitchhiker who, tim’s brother, Warren Beh, arrived. He draqve off. He appeared to be quite
seemed to be wrong with it, but the just before reaching Holland, pulled related that his late brother had in- familiar with Gary. :
driver insisted that something was out a long-barreled revolver and forced deed been a very wealthy and influen- The gun, the serviceman said, was a
broken and it'd take a tow car to haul them to drive all the way to Gary. tial man. His home in Grosse Pointe long-barreled .45. Beh had been killed ©
it out.” Reaching that point, he robbed them Farms, on the outskirts of Detroit, bor- witha gun of that caliber. ‘The descrip-
inal tha ear ofa small sum of money and drove dered on that of Henry Ford II. War- tion of the gunman tallied too. In great
detail Milewski and Rose McCormick
ahanatar’c disarming
Illinois cities, including Chicago, for
passing
in the last 48 hours, and they both had
themselves quickly involved in a recital
of impossible, conflicting or
No time was wasted in an attempt to
learn all the facts. ‘The two guns seized
from the suspects were rushed to the
, Michigan, crime laboratory
for a comparison test with the death-
requested to rush mugshots to Holland
to be submitted to Pvt. Milewski and his
girl for identification. In case of doubt,
Holland authorities were prepared to
send the couple to view the suspects in
Person in a police lineup.
But despite the rich haul of four
suspects—two of whom were unfor-
tunately still at large—efforts con—
tinued to develop fresh, alternate leads.
The focal point of the local, State, and
Federal investigations remained the
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PILLEY, Robert S., white, elec. Ala. (Jefferson Co.) on -19-19)6
Low whistles of admiration sounded
whenever Sally Scott walked down a
street—but that was best of leads!
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The counterman thought the gunman
was joking so he smiled—at death!
au Gain BVVU-19v nia, BUY -
but he mow him. Cooper knew
darn w | check at the club and
find out avout him . . . that’s why he
told us about him.”
“Sure, but what doesn’t jibe?”
“Mitchell said he went to Cooper
and asked him for a job. Cooper didn’t
mention that . and if it’s true...
Cooper must have heard the guy's
name mentioned . . . but he didn’t want
us to know it. He probably figured we
wouldn’t be able to find him.”
“But why?” ~
NSTEAD of answering, Callahan
reached for the phone, placed a call
through to Coroner Harris—even
though it was 5:30 in the morning.
What he wanted to know couldn't wait.
“When you made that autopsy yes-
terday on the Foley kid. what did you
find in his stomach?” Callahan asked
Harris.
“What?” Harris asked sleepily.
Callahan said patiently: “You deter-
mine the time of death by how far the
food in the victim’s stomach has di-
By the Red
She was dating, quite regularly, a man
named Sam Blondin.
“Blondin’s a cook at a cafe down-
town,” Pierce said, placing on Eddin’s
desk a’ sheet of notes he had made on_
the man. “Blondin is about thirty, has
dark hair and is of medium build.”
Eddins, still reading oyer the notes,
said, “Doesn't fit in with the descrip-
tion of the blond-haired man.”
“No, but there’s something else about
him that’s quite interesting. He owns a
thirty-eight caliber Colt Special. And
he was at Carol Higley’s home the
night of the murder—or. in the eve-
ning, I should say. A neighbor of the
Higley woman saw Blondin come to
Carol's apartment about half-past six.”
The Chief was thinking. “Let's pick
him up for questioning. We won't men-
tion the fact we know he has any con-
nection with the Higley woman. Just
tell him it is routine check—because
he has a thirty-eight and that was the
type of gun that killed Goatley.”
LONDIN was picked up that evening,
just after he got off work. He didn’t
seem nervous or excited when he was
brought before Chief Eddins. Instead,
he was smiling.
Blondin asked. “What have I done
now, Chief?"
“We're not saying you've done any-
thing wrong,” Eddins replied, keeping
the conversation on strictly a friendly
plane. “It’s about the Goatley murder.
Have you read about it in the papers?”
“Yes,” the cook said, nodding his
head slowly, “but where do I fit into
that? I didn’t even know Goatley.”
44
“You didn’t have breakfast with
Foley. We have already checked that.
Foley hadn't anything to eat before
-he died. That's only the start. We'll
be able to shoot your story full of
holes when we really get checking it.
Why don't you come clean?”
“You mean you can tell that Foley
didn’t eat before he was killed?”
“That's right. And we know Cooper
was mixed up in this. We're calling
him in next. When we give him the
works, he’s going to rap you with the
whole killing. He already gave us the
tip to find you.”
Mitchell stared down at his shoes for
a moment. It was as if he realized it
was useless to try to alibi his way out.
He looked up at Callahan and Lohrer
and said hoarsely:
“I didn’t mean to kill him. T only
went along for the ride with Cooper.
But when I saw Foley reach into his
pocket. I thought he was going to kill
both of us . . . so I snatched the gun
out of Cooper's hand and let the kid
have it.”
In his confession, Mitchell told how
was pleading now. “You guys got
believe me! I—I'm not a killer. A
wanted was a job and I thought mayuc
if I went along with Cooper he'd give
me one. I—I never knew what it would
lead to!”
MITCHELL was a pathetic sight sit-
ting there, his arms outstretched
in a pleading gesture.
“I parked the car where Cooper
wanted me to,” Mitchell went on
weakly, “and Foley woke up. He'd been
dead drunk, you know. Cooper dragged
him out of the car. Foley asked him
what was the idea.
“Cooper pulled a gun out of his
pocket and said: ‘Now you're going to
get what's coming to vou... . you
chiseler.. Foley just blinked at him.
Then he made a dive for his pocket,
like he was going for a gun. I guess I
got scared and rattled. I snatched the
gun out of Cooper’s hand and emptied
it into Foley. Cooper patted me on
the back and said: ‘Good shaoting,.
kid.”
The case attracted State-wide at-
ntion, not only because of the murder
uivolved, but because of the evidence
of the underworld activities of some of
the speakeasies.
Rocky Thomas pleaded guilty to a
charge of blackmail in the case where
he and Robert Timme attempted to ex-
tort money from Cooper for the fake
slaying of Mrs. Reynolds., He was sen-
tenced to a year in the county- jail.
Timme pleaded not guilty, but was —
found guilty and was also sentenced to
a year in the county jail. Both men
are now serving their time.
Meanwhile, both Mitchell and Coop-
er have petitioned for a new trial. But
at the time OFFICIAL DETECTIVE
STORIES goes to press, no action has
been taken on their requests.
The names of Steve Draper and
Helen and Mrs. Reynolds are fictitious
to protect innocent persons from em-
barrassment. The actual names of the
Langer Club and the Winston Hotel
also have been changed jor the same
reason, 5
Sweater Route to Murderers (Continued from Page 36)
“We understand you have a thirty-
eight caliber Colt Special. Goatley was
shot with a thirty-eight. Just a routine
check.”
Blondin sighed, grinned. “Well, I
feel better. But can't help you much.
You see, I’ve sold my gun. Sold it
about three months ago, in fact. So
that lets me out.”
au Waa did i sell it to?” Eddins de-
mand
“A man rowan John Mobley. Lives
out at Camp Hill. I think that’s about
ninety miles southeast of here. Used to
work here in Birmingham. Still comes
here a lot.”
So Detective Pierce and Norrell went
to Camp Hill, got Mobley and brought
him to Birmingham. Mobley was a tall
man. about 30 years old and very quiet.
When he sat down in the Chief’s office.
he asked Eddins if he might smoke.
Eddins nodded and Mobley took out a
large cigar and carefully lighted it.
He was relaxed, very well mannered.
“Mobley,” Eddins said, “did you buy
a gun about three months ago from a
fellow named Blondin?”
“That's right, Sir. It was a thirty-
eight Colt Special.”
“Do you still have it?”
~No, Sir. I kept it for about two
weeks, then I sold it. Got a shotgun
instead.”
“Who did you sell it to?”
“Sorry, but I-don’t know the man’s
name. I met him in a bar down at Mo-
bile. He said it was just the kind of gun
he was looking for. He had a shotgun,
so we made a trade. He gave me ten
bucks to boot.”
Eddins leaned back in his chair. Was
he chasing some kind of a shadow that
was going to lead him no place? He
_ didn’t know the gun was actually the
one that killed Goatley. Seemed silly to
be making such a fuss over it. And yet
—that gun was tied in with Carol Hig-
ley, with the. black Chevrolet sedan,
with an ex-convict who had gone to the
West Coast the day after the murder
and then who suddenly had dropped
from sight. Could it be that all this was
coincidence? It seemed unlikely.
Eddins turned back to Mobley. “Can
you describe this guy who has your
gun?”
“Sure. I remember him quite well. He
was a short and rather thin fellow—
weighed about a hundred and thirty-
five pounds, I suppose. Probably about
thirty years old.”
“What kind of hair did he have?”
“Blond. Combed it straight back.”
HIS information excited Eddins al-
though he tried not to show it. That
gun suddenly had taken an even more
important spot on his calendar. He
picked up his telephone, called the po-
lice chief at Mobile, asked him to check
thoroughly in his area for the gun. He
gave the Mobile chief the serial num-
ber of the weapon and the description
of the blond, thin man.
Then, while this lead was simmering.
Eddins brought in Blondin and Mob-
ley on the line-up, had the hamburger
shop patrons on the murder night look
them over. No one could identify either
of the men as having been in the shop
the night of the crime. So Mobley and
Blondin were allowed to go, after estab-
lishing alibis for their presence at the
time of the murder. Blondin had been
at his mother’s home, arriving there, he
said, about half-past seven. Probably
after he had been to see Carol Higley,
though Eddins didn’t mention this fact
at the time. Mobley said he had been at
a party at Camp Hill with a group of
his friends.
But Eddins, a very thorough man, put
an officer to work checking the ali-
bis of the two men.
“Just to be on the safe side,” he ex-
plained.
In the middle of all of the excite-
ment about the .38 caliber pistol, Carol
Higley suddenly quit her job as a clerk
in a department store and went to
Memphis, Tennessee, to her mother’s
home. To her friends, she gave no
explanation other than, “I want to
rest for awhile.”
But her move meant more than this
to the officers. Had she learned that
she was being watched? Did she con-
sider Birmingham a “hot” place for
her at the moment?
Eddins didn’t know, but he asked the
Memphis police to keep an eye on her
there, and got permission to have her
mail checked on the possibility that
her ex-husband, still an important
suspect, might write her and give his
present address.
All of this time the investigation had
been radiating out from Carol Hig-
ley, but Detective Norrell suddenly
“No.” The woman raised up on her
seat. “But she’s not one of them kind
*. of girls—if that’s what you want. to
know. I don’t keep girls like that in
; “I'm sure you don't,” Eddins said.
“But Miss Hall d does have a boy friend,
no doubt. Is that right?”
The woman thought a moment. “Yes
a my house.”
I think. Seemed like a very nice young
man.
“Could you describe him for us?”
“Oh, he was a young man, not too
big, but nicely dressed. Wore good
clothes. Had blond hair.”
The officers didn’t show it, but their
interest in Betty Hall was growing even
more rapidly.
“You say she drove his car quite a
" ~bit—what kind of a car was it?”
“A black Chevvy.”
“I see.” Eddins was trying to remain
calm. Norrell was attempting to do the
same. But both officers were tense with
excitement. They'd walked into some-
thing important here all right, and no
doubt about it.
Eddins became a little more bold.
“Did you ever notice anything out of
the way at all concerning Miss Hall?” |
woman didn’t say anything for
a moment. She looked first at Ed-
dins, then Norrell. She leaned a little
closer to the two men and said in a
voice barely above a whisper: “This
may not mean anything, but one morn-
‘ing quite awhile ago I went in her room
to clean up and one of her dresser
day, it was gone. I haven't seen any-
thing more of it. Do you suppose it
means anything?” The woman’s eyes
were wide, almost in fear.
“No, I think not.” Eddins replied, his
pulse beating faster. He didn't want
this woman to know too much. “If I
were you. I'd forget all about it. If you
don’t mind, we'll search the room for
you to make sure the gun isn’t there
any more, then you can forget it.”
To the officers’ disgust and disap-
Pointment, the gun was not there. So
they left, again cautioning the wom-
an not to mention their visit that day.
She said three times she wouldn’t.
But from then on, Eddins had a 24-
hour watch put on the rooming-house.
And a plainclothes officer shadowed
Betty Hall constantly.
It had been two months now since
- Goatley was murdered, and the offi-
geles Shooe:
like we're geti
HE big electric fan droned
monotonously on the wall of
the West End Hamburgér Shop
in Birmingham, Alabama, but it did
little to relieve the sultriness on
the hot night of July 11, 1945. At
the far end of the counter sat a
man and his wife, who held a small
baby, munching sandwiches and
drinking milk. Seated on one of
the stools near the door was a
husky blond youth eating a ham-
burger. °
Taking advantage of the fact
that all his customers were served,
Robert Spray, the counterman, re-
laxed in a corner and scanned the
front page of an evening paper
which carried the banner headline:
QUIZ REDHEAD IN GAS STATION
ROBBERY.
Spray glanced up at the wall
~ clock and saw that it was 8:55. It
would not be long now, he knew,
before. he would be swamped with
orders from the hungry patrons
who would pour out of the West
End Theatre next door at the end
of the first show.
At the far end of the counter,
the blond youth lifted a hand and
beckoned Spray. “Another ham-
burger, bud,” he demanded arro-
gantly, “and a hot dog—right
away.” ;
“Hold your horses,” said the
counterman, annoyed. “We won’t
let you starve.”
The youth, tanned and built like
an athlete, eagerly devoured the
two additional sandwiches Spray
-brought him. Then he rose from
is stool and dropped a half-dol-
lar on the counter.
Picking up the coin, Spray turn-
ed to the cash register and rang
up the sale—30 cents. Automatical-
ly he took two dimes out of the
drawer and turned to hand them
to the customer.
The blonde youth’s eyes were
narrow slits. “Keep the change,
bud,” he said with a sneer, bring-
ing up a large black revolver from
beneath the counter. “What I want
is all the bills in the cash drawer.
Now, give!”
The counterman stood momen-
tarily stunned, unable to act.
Suddenly the door to the kitch-
en opened and a handsome, dark-
haired man in an apron emerged,
carrying a platter of sliced onions.
He was George N. Goatley, the 39-
year-old second counterman, who
had walked into the front of the
shop with no knowledge that his
co-worker was facing a gunman.
Goatley, heading for the far end
of the counter, neared the cash
register when the blond youth
whirled and pointed the gun at
him. “Hey, you!” he commanded.
“Let go of that platter and put
up your hands. This is a heist!”
Spray stood trembling, too terri-
fied to speak as Goatley obligingly
set the onions down and turned to
the gunman with an indulgent
smile. Then walking solemnly, as
if he considered the whole thing
a@ joke, he started back for the
kitchen.
A split second later, the robber’s
gun roared once and Goatley
slumped to the floor, blood oozing
from a hole beneath his right
temple. io
The woman screamed and her
baby began to cry. Her husband
sat riveted to his stool by fear,
while Spray stood motionless beside
the cash register, staring at the
prostrate form of his partner. The
blond youth, still holding the smok-
ing gun, glanced quickly out at the
sidewalk and saw that no one was
passing.
“Don’t make a move,” he warned
the terrified onlookers as he backed
toward the door, “and don’t open
your traps or I'll plug every one
of you!”
In a moment he had slipped out-
side and was gone.
O sooner had the gunman fied
when the doors of the theater
opened and the departing audience
filled the sidewalk. Spray, galvan-
izing into action, dashed out of the
sandwich shop only to find that
the fleeing youth had disappeared
into the crowd.
“Get a policeman!” the counter-
man shouted excitedly. “A man has
been shot!” ;
The cry spread rapidly and short-
ly a uniformed patrolman, blow-
ing his whistle for help, made his
way through the throng of curious
spectators which had massed in
front of the sandwich shop. The
17
BE CAREFUL—
SHE IS ARMED!
(Continued ‘from page 6)
was holding her up about ten feet
from the ground. Then she let go.
The police caught her and hustled
her back inside.
Here it was discovered that, not-
withstanding the search by the of-
REVEALING |
WiSvECuIVe
CHSEG
KEVEALING FAwio ravwvm
itantly, “but it might have been ei-
ther of these guys. I’d want to see
him face to face before I could be
certain.”
The detectives studied the cap-
tions on the backs of the pictures
with rising hope. The first was of
Charles Horton, 21, of Birmingham,
while the second was of Gordon
Baxter, 20, of Fairfield, a suburb.
only eight miles west of the city.
They immediately ordered both
young men picked up and brought
-in for questioning about the mur-
der.
Early next day, after a few hasiis
of badly needed sleep, Norrell and
Pierce returned to headquarters
and checked on developments. They
were annoyed to learn that Sally
Scott had not yet been picked up.
All night a detective had waited in
the lobby of her hotel, but she had
failed to return.
Surmising that the pretty red-
head might have joined her boy
friend, Pierce called Mobley at his —
hotel. "But the clerk told him that
Mobley had, checked out around
midnight, loaded his luggage into
his car outside the hotel door and
had driven away alone.
Throughout the morning, Norrell
and Pierce, working with another
detective of the homicide detail,
J. R. Phillips, located and ques-
tioned nine youths who, Mrs. Goat-
ley had said, were close friends of
her late husband. All were sadden-
ed by the tragedy and eager to
assist in bringing his slayer to jus-
tice, but not one of them could
name anyone who held a grudge
against the victim.
Then, throughout the afternoon
and early evening, the detectives
questioned other young friends of
the slain man,‘ but without devel-
cping any new leads. Discouraged
but still determined, the investiga-.
tors returned to headquarters.
There a bureau clerk informed
them that no further word on the
Scott girl had been received, while
detectives who had gone to the
homes of the two ex-convicts pick-
ed out by Spray had found both
ficer and the matron, the prisoner
had managed to hold out on them.
What she had held out was an
ordinary bobby pin from her lust-
rous tresses. With this hair-thin bit
of wire she had picked the lock of
the heavy mesh screen over the
window! And with the thick cord
of the Venetian blind she had low-
ered herself to the ground!
TVeteek Friel
Since that time, in the East
Fifty-first Street Station, bobby
pins, powder puffs, lipsticks, eye-
brow pencils and other aids to fem-
inine pulchritude are classed as
dangerous weapons.
Note: The name Elsie Eppes is.
fictitious. The facts are exactly as
given.
You Can't Hide Away With a Redhead
(Continued from page 19)
Sandwich shop*where Death dropped in for a ‘burger.
‘of them away. Horton was expect-
ed to return home the next morn-
ing, while Baxter, according to his
brother, had left at 7 o’clock the
previous evening on an automobile
trip to California with another
man.
The detective had questioned the
brother closely on this point, and
he admitted that he couldn’t swear
Baxter had left that early because
he hadn’t been at home when the
. suspect started out. The car Bax-
ter’s companion was driving, he
said, was a late model Ford!
- Once again, Norrell and Pierce
were confronted by a strange and
possibly significant coincidence. If .
the brother was wrong and Baxter
actually had left his home later,
“he easily could have been the man
who shot Goatley.
At Sally Scott’s hotel, a detective
‘was still stationed in the lobby,
waiting for her to appear. But she
had not returned, nor had she call-
ed the desk clerk although her
* room had been unoccupied for more
than 24 hours.
Pierce put in a toll call for Mo-.
bley at his family’s farm and the
young man himself answered. “No,
Sally’s not with me,” he said.’ “If
you doubt my word, you can send
someone up here to look around.”
“Have you any idea where she
is?” asked the detective. :
“None at all, unless she’s visit-
ing a friend. The last I saw of her
was when she took my car after
dinner in Birmingham last night.
I was busy packing and I told her
to leave the car in front of the
hotel. It was there when I came
down around midnight. She didn’t
_ even bother to call me when she
left it.”
The detectives. decided to wait
until the following day before driv-
ing to Camp Hill to check Mobley’s
statement: Early next morning,
Sally Scott walked into the lobby
of her hotel. Explaining her ab-
sence from the hotel to Norrell
and Pierce, the redhead said she
was ‘staying with a girl she knew
on the other side of the city.
. Asked by Norrell where she was
at 9 o’clock on the night Goatley
was killed, the girl bit her lip hesi-
33
>
i
Det. J. R. Norrell made a hunch-
play that won game against crime.
woman customer’s husband stood
at the door, trying to keep out the
crowd, while behind the counter,
Spray was telephoning for an am-
bulance.
Sirens howled outside as the am-
bulance and police cars converged
at the scene. A squad of bluecoats
forced the crowd back while de-
tectives entered the shop close on
the heels of the ambulance sur-
geon and his attendant.
“I'm afraid he’s lost too much
blood,” the doctor said as he helped
the attendant place Goatley on a
stretcher. “But we'll do the best we
can.”
As the wounded man was lifted
into the ambulance and it roared
away, detectives from the local pre-
cinct turned to question the wit-
18
nesses. They were joined shortly
by two homicide men from Birm-
ingham Police headquarters, Detec-
tives J. R. Norrell and C. L. Pierce,
both ace investigators, who had
started for the sandwich shop at
Tuscaloosa Avenue and 13th Street,
S. W., the minute they received
the flash. By the time they reach-
ed the scene, the hospital had re-
ported Goatley was dead when the
ambulance arrived. ai
The local detectives quickly re-
lated that they had found only two
bystanders who had seen the flee-
ing gunman. The pair said that
he had jumped into a Ford sedan
standing double-parked around the
corner and that the car had sped
away toward the center of the city.
“He had a revolver in his hand,”
one of the witnesses declared, “and
he was young, but we didn’t get a
good look at his face or at the
driver. We’re sure the car was a
1941 Ford.”
Norrell and Pierce obtained the
best description of the gunman
from Spray. “I doubt if he was
much more than twenty,” the coun-
terman said. “He was good-looking,
all right, with blond, wavy hair
The murder-car was. his—
so judge doied out. life.
eee
ai ager nner pF
“Se % t
ALR
— * Me oS
A
year ws.
al
saint
and stood around five feet, nine
or ten. Didn’t seem like a crook |
at alJl.”
Norrell looked at his partner.
“Sounds like the same mug who
robbed the gas station!”
Turning to the two witnesses who
had seen the gunman enter the
getaway car, Norrell asked if the
driver had been a woman. But the
pair could not say, repeating that
they had been unable to see the
person at the wheel of the Ford.
“That redhead could have been
driving for him,” Pierce said. ‘Too
bad we had to turn her loose.”
Only that morning, the Birming-
ham police had reluctantly released
@ young woman suspect after ques-
tioning her for hours about the
holdup of the Mutual Oil Station
at 9th Street and 3rd Avenue the
previous week.
She was Sally Scott, 20, a pretty,
auburn-haired manicurist who was
temporarily out of a job and living
at a small hotel in downtown Birm-
ingham. Although the police had
been unable to develop any con-
crete evidence against her in the
gas station robbery, they still felt
she knew more about it than she
had told. But without a charge on
which they could hold her, they
were forced to yield to her attor-
ney’s demand for her release.
She had come under suspicion on
the basis of a story told by the
manager of the gas station, who
said that less than twenty minutes
before the blond youth robbed him,
he had noticed a car driving slowly
past his place a number of times.
“I didn’t pay much attention: to
the car then,” the manager had
told detectives later. “I didn’t even
notice the man who was driving.
What I did look at every time the
car went by was the red-haired
girl in the front seat with him. She
was a knockout! Of course, I sup-
posed they were cruising around
waiting to. meet somebody. But
when T was robbed soon after that,
I decided they might have been
casing my place.”
The gunman had fled with $70
from the station’s cash register and
dashed around the corner, where
witnesses had seen him leap into
a waiting car which roared away.
After hearing the manager’s
story, the police had started a
search for the redhead as well as
the robber. They had found her at
last seated in a Ford car outside
the Mecca Hotel, where she insist-
ed she was waiting for her boy
friend. She readily accompanied
detectives to headquarters and was
identified there by the gas station
manager.
With no show of emotion, Sally
Scott admitted what the manager
said was true. “We were riding:
around that block the night of the
holdup,” she said. “We were sup-
posed to pick up a girl friend of
mine on the corner, but she didn’t
keep the date, so we finally drove
away. I guess that was just a little
while before the robbery.”
The redhead’s girl acquaintance
confirmed her story\of the corner
appointment, while her boy friend,
a young man named John Mobley,
also admitted driving her around
the vicinity that night. Detectives
discounted the possibility that Mo-
bley could have been the robber be-
cause he was dark-haired and in
no way resembled the blond bandit.
In addition, he worked steadily at
a good salary for a local trucking
company and had a good reputa-
tion.
Still feeling, however, that the
trips of Sally Scott and her boy
friend past the gas station were
more than coincidence, the detec-
tives had released her for lack of
evidence.
That was twelve hours before the
holdup-murder of George Goatley
Now, investigating this coldblooded
slaying, Norrell and Pierce were
struck at once by the similarity to
the gas-station robbery. In each
case, a blond gunman had been
seen escaping in a Ford sedan.
which could have been the one in
which Sally Scott had been riding
with her boy friend.
“I’m going after that redhead
again,” Pierce told his partner.
“She may be the key to this whole
crime wave.”
+
Wa Norrell remained at the
sandwich shop to continue the
investigation there, Pierce drove
back downtown and telephoned the
girl’s hotel.
“Miss Scott isn’t in,” the clerk
informed him. “She went out late
this afternoon and hasn’t return-
ed.” /
Hanging up, Pierce called the
Mecca Hotel and asked for John
Mobley, who answered promptly.
“Sally?” he repeated. “Why, I
gave her my car after dinner to
take a girl friend for a drive while
I came here to patk my clothes.
My vacation starts tomorrow and
I’m leaving to visit my family on
their farm near Camp Hill.”
Pierce finished the conversation
quickly and hung up. Then he call-
ed headquarters and ordered an
alarm sent out to pick up Sally
Scott again. “She’s driving a Ford
sedan owned by John Mobley,” he
added.
Back at the sandwich shop,
Pierce eagerly told Norrell what he
had learned. “We're fairly sure,” he
said, “that the man in the car with
the redhead on the night of the
gas station job was Mobley, and
not the blond gunman. But tonight,
she’s out in the car again and Mo-
bley isn’t with her. If we establish
that she was near the sandwich
shop around the time of the crime,
she’ll have a lot to explain!”
It was now almost 10:30 P.M.
and there was little more that the
—
investigators could do at the scene.
A careful search of the premises
and surrounding terrain had failed
to reveal any clues. The slayer had
been seen taking the gun with him,
and the single slug he had fired was
loiged in the victim’s skull, await-
ing removal by the autopsy surgeon.
Descriptions of the gunman iden-
tical with that Spray gave had been
furnished by the badly-shaken
married couple and their infant,
and they had been released after
brief questioning to return to their
hotel.
Norrell and Pierce stood outside
the sandwich shop as the other
police cars rolled away. “Wasn't. it
strange,” suggested Pierce, “that
Goatley ignored the bandit and
treated the heist as more or less a
joke?” ;
Norrell nodded. “That’s what I’m
thinking. No man in his right mind
would act that way—unless he
knew the gunman and didn’t think
the youth in earnest.”
“By Jove, that’s probably it!” re-
plied Pierce. “We'd better get over
to see Goatley’s family and try
to get a line on the men he knew.”
At the victim’s home, his widow
bravely dried her tears and an-
swered the detectives’ questions.
“As far as I know,” said Mrs. Goat-
ley, “Bill—that’s what everybody
called him—didn’t have any en-
Interior view of hamburger-joint where murder-across-counter was enacted.
emies. He liked young fellows and
many of them were his friends, but
I’m sure he. didn’t know. any young
criminals.”
Her statement checked with what
the detectives already had learned
from Spray and other witnesses at
the scene. Sympathetic and kind
by nature, “Bill” Goatley had been
a friend and counsellor to scores
of young men who lived in the
neighborhood. Time after time, he
had lent them money for hamburg-
ers, a movie or even a date out of
his slim savings.
The widow furnished the detec.
tives with the names of as many
of Goatley’s loyal friends as she
could recall. Then, thanking her
for the information, they returned
to their car and started back to
headquarters.
At headquarters, the detectives
confronted Spray, who meanwhile
had been taken there to look over
photographs in the rogues’ gallery
to see if he could identify the gun-
man. But so far he had recognized
none of the pictures. °
Shortly before 2 A.M., after he
had studied hundreds of photo-
graphs, Spray picked out two which
proved to be of blond young men
who both had records of armed
robbery.
“I’m not at all sure,” he said hes-
(Continued on page 33)
19
48
Outside, several youngsters, attracted
by the sound of the shot, started peering
through the circular window of the
hamburger shop. By this time the first
showing ‘of the feature picture at the
near-by West End Theatre was over.
Patrons, streaming down Tuscaloosa
Avenue, began milling about the place.
In response to the customer’s phone
call, emergency patrols roared from
headquarters, throwing a dragnet around
the West End section of the city. A
radio alarm quickly brought to the
scene Patrolmen J. M. MacDonald and
G. L. Pattie, who had been cruising in
the district.
Soon an ambulance. clanged to the
eating place. The physician in charge
found that Goatley was still alive but
held out little hope for his recovery. At-
tendants sped away with him to the hos-
pital. -He died'on the way. ;
Police Chief: C. Floyd Eddins assigned
Captain James R. Norrell and Charles
L. Pierce of the homicide squad to the
case. They arrived promptly with fin-
gerprint experts and a police photo-
grapher.
While the technicians were busy at-
their tasks, the officials questioned the
witnesses. After Spray gave them an
account of what had happened Norrell
expressed his perplexity about Goatley’s
nonchalance while being threatened
with a gun.
“was he hard of hearing?” the cap-
tain inquired. ‘Maybe he thought he
‘was being ordered back to the kitchen.”
The counterman shook his head. “No
—he could hear all right,” he replied.
“And I'm just as puzzled as you are as
to why he disobeyed him and took his
time about it too. What’s more, I also
noticed just’ before he turned around
that he had a sort of smile on his face.”
“Think he knew the fellow?”
Spray shrugged. “All I can say is
that I never laid eyes’on the guy until
tonight. If he ever, came in‘before it
must have been more than six weeks ago
when I first started to work here.”
The employee said that the killer was
of slender build and his hair, combed
straight back with a part on the right
side, ‘was reddish blond. His forehead
was high, there were hollows in his
cheeks, and he had a prominent Adam’s
apple. His eyes were brown, his face
deeply tanned. He was in his early
twenties, Spray judged, about five feet
eight inches tall and weighed approxi-
mately 135 pounds.
The officers, turning their attention to
the two customers, learned that they
were Mr. and Mrs. John P. Franklin.
Their account of what they had seen
and their description of the murderer
tallied in every detail, with Spray’s re-
cital. They were also puzzled about
the victim’s lack of excitement in the
face of danger.
Franklin was given permission to
drive his’ wife and child home. He
agreed to report to headquarters within
an hour for the purpose of looking over
the photographs of criminals on the
chance that he might spot the killer.
“He didn’t want to get trapped by his fingerprints,” reasoned the police
when they learned of ruse used by the killer at scene of murder (above)
Persistence of Det. Pierce (l.) and Capt. Norrell (r.) paid off
when they discovered link between bandits and red-haired woman
“The technicians had in the meantime .
concentrated on the soda bottle, the
sandwich plate and the portion of the
counter where the killer had been
served,
In spite of their strong belief that
at least one of these items would pro-
vide a fingerprint clue, they discovered
nothing of value. The half-dollar had
been deposited by Spray in the cash
drawer compartment among other coins
of similar denomination. The one in
question was therefore unable to be
identified.
“T can’t understand,” frowned Pierce,
“why no prints remained on that pop
bottle.”
The counterman spoke up. “He kept
a napkin around it when lifting it to his
mouth.”
“A dainty guy,” Pierce remarked
dryly to Norrell.
“A mighty careful one,” corrected the
captain, “It’s a safe bet that he has a
criminal record. He didn’t want to get
trapped by his prints.”
The investigators, bent on securing a
lead to the killer’s means of escape,
began questioning onlookers and em-
ployees in near-by business establish-
ments. They found two boys who told
of seeing a black Ford sedan parked on
Thirteenth Street, just a few feet from
the entrance to the alley in the rear
Pa?
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car. Hu
they hea
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nl
Wi \f
mobile?”
Both :
somebod:
glanced |
truth, the
the guy
the driv
know, i
woman.”
“We'd
make sul
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“Not |
youngste
jumped i
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“Well,
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Again
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The off
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killing it
.
tantly, then replied. “Why, I was
sitting in a tavern, drinking beer
with my girl friend. We had been
out for a ride earlier in the eve-
ning, and we were thirsty.”
She named the tavern and one
of the detectives was dispatched to
check her statement. It proved
sound. The detective also called on
the redhead’s girl friend, who veri-
fied the story.
Norrell and Pierce exchanged a
look of despair. Once again, they
had no other course but to release
Sally Scott. The only suspect re-
maining was Baxter—now on his
way to California—unless they
could turn up a new one.
S soon as Baxter’s destination
had become known, the detec-
tives had ordered an alarm for him
and his motoring companion sent
out by radio and teletype westward
and to all surrounding states, but
thus far no report on the pair had
been received. ‘
Ten days dragged by without
word of Baxter and his friend, but
Norrell and Pierce were not sur-
prised. Baxter’s brother had been
unable—deliberately or not—to re-
call the name of the man who
owned the car or its license num-
ber, and only a general description
had been sent out.
Two weeks had passed since the
murder of the counterman, and not
a single new lead had been de-
veloped. Norrell, Pierce and the
other homicide detectives worked
ceaselessly on the case, following
up every possible clue, but without
success.
All known criminals in the Birm-
ingham area who might answer the
description of the Slayer were
rounded up and their movements
on the night of the crime investi-
gated. A month went by, and an-
other, and still the detectives were
no nearer to a solution of the baf-
fling murder. Norrell and Pierce be-
came convinced that the slayer had
left the city and was lying low un-
til the heat was off.
As the days passed, the Birm-
ingham officers kept a close watch
on reports of holdups in other
cities, seeking a similarity in pat-
tern which might point to Goatley’s
murderer. ,
Late in September, their inter-
est was aroused by a report from
Mobile describing two armed rob-
beries pulled on the same night by
a foursome of gunmen. They had
escaped without firing a shot after
robbing a bakery and a drugstore.
One of the bandits, all young men,
had been blond.
The Birmingham officers lost no
time in obtaining further details
of the two holdups from the Mo-
bile police and asked to be kept
posted on developments. The Mo-
bile detectives reported they had
good reason to suspect that two of
34
Re eee VEPEOEIVE GASES
the bandits were local police char-
acters whose names were J. D. EI-
lis and Red Trammell.
Photographs, full descriptions
and fingerprints on Ellis and Tram-
mell were promptly forwarded to
Birmingham, and the entire hom-
icide detail set out to pick up the
trail of the suspects.
Their efforts were rewarded with
breathtaking speed. In a tourist
camp at East Lake, on the out-
skirts of Birmingham, they learn-
ed from the manager that two men
closely resembling Ellis and Tram-
mell had stayed there on the night
after the Mobile robberies. The pair
had arrived in a car with two oth-
er men who didn’t stay, but drove
back toward the city. One of their
companions was a handsome young
blond chap.
“It looks to me,” said Norrell, “as
if that’s the boy we want. He’s
NAS YOUR REWARD FOR coop BEHAVIOR, Ih
CANCELING YouUR WIFES WEEKLY VISIT. %
working with a Mobile gang and
he brought them up here because
he knows his way around Birming-
ham. That means he’s still in the
city.” .
“But how can we get on his
trail?” asked Pierce, thinking out
loud. “He’d hardly risk pulling an- -
other job so soon.”
Norrell’s gray eyes twinkled. “It’s
only a hunch, but I think it’s a
good one. Go down to Sally Scott’s
hotel and talk to the desk clerk.
The girl may not be mixed up in
this, but I’m still not convinced
she isn’t. Find out if anyone has
visited her within the last couple
of days—any good-looking young
men with straight blond hair!”
Norrell was drumming his fingers
impatiently on his desk a half hour
later, when his partner returned.
“You were right!” Pierce said ea+
gerly. “A chap who’s a dead ringer
for our man visited the Scott girl ©
at the hotel on the same night ——
Ellis and Trammell stopped at the ~
Camp in East Lake, The next night, ~~"
he called on her again. She went
out with him and didn’t come back
until the next afternoon.”
Norrell took a deep breath, a wry
smile on his lips. “Well,” he said.
“We weren’t so wrong about Sally
after all. But if the killer hasn’t
been around to see her the last few
nights, it means he probably figures
the heat’s on in Mobile and he’s
left town again.”
' Acting swiftly, Norrell telephoned
the Mobile police and relayed the
information to them with a request
for a new checkup. on all suspicious
characters resembling Goatley’s
Slayer.
The Mobile department also had
news for him. One of the sheriff’s
men in that city had Picked up a
.38 calibre Colt revolver from a
-Pawnbroker who said that it had
been left with him by a handsome,
blond young man!
“Our ballistics men are sending
you a test bullet fired from it,” the
Mobile officer reported. “Maybe it
will match the one taken from the
victim’s skull.”
He referred to the Slug removed
from Goatley’s body in the autop-
sy, which examination had shown
to have been fired from a Colt. 38.
The :
were identical! Both had been fired
from the gun pawned in Mobile.
phen Pilley
for robbery.
At his last Place of emplo ent.
Mobile detectives learned that Ear
ley answered the exact description
Within the last few days, he had _
been seen in Mobile with another —
ex-convict named Jessie Bryson.
When this information was re-
layed to Norrell, he turned to
1 aa aaa SAR Ry Sa
ne
ir
§
ce
REVEALING FACTS FROM POLICE FILES
Pierce. “Pilley’s the man we want,
I’m certain. You'd better go down
there right away and question him
when they make the pickup.”
While Pierce was on his way,
Norrell obtained positive identifica-
tion of Pilley’s photograph as that
of the blond bandit from Spray and
the gas-station manager. It was
also identified by the hotel desk
clerk as that of the man who had
visited Sally Scott.
On October 12, 1945, just 91 days
after Bill Goatley’s murder, Pierce
arrived in Mobile and went directly
to police headquarters. An hour la-
ter, Pilley and three other young
men were picked up riding in a car
and brought in for questioning.
Advised by Norrell that the sus-
pect’s pictures had been identified
by witnesses, Pierce confronted
Pilley with this evidence. But the
prisoner stolidly denied his guilt.
Pierce conferred by phone with
Norrell, who conceived a brilliant
REVEALING
WIS VEICTIVE
CAGES
his wife, whom he had married
against his father’s advice that he
should not wed a divorcee.
Moses Kaber declared he had no
reason to suspect that Mis. Kaber
wanted to get rid of her husband,
but pointed out that she stood to
benefit by $500,000 from his son’s
insurance if Dan Kaber died.
The detectives considered this a
strong motive and weighed it ac-
cordingly against the meagre evi-
dence they had collected. Once
more returning to Lakewood head-
quarters, Chief Christensen learned
from Dr. Quigley, who had just
completed the autopsy, that Kaber
had been stabbed no less than -24
times! This seemed to eliminate
robbery as the motive, indicating
that the rich publisher had been
slain by a vengeful fiend or a pro-
fessional assassin.
Several perplexing questions oc-
cupied the minds of the investi-
gators as they halted their efforts
shortly before dawn and turned in
for a few hours of sleep. It was
now Saturday, July 19, 1919.
Why was Dan Kaber killed? Who
was the “man with a cap?” Who
spread the victim’s handkerchief
out on the awning and why? What
did Mrs. Eva Catherin Kaber—still
in Cedar Point on a holiday—know
about her husband’s killing?
Later that morning, Prosecutor
Stanton corsferred again with Chief
Christensen and Lieutenant Miller,
accompanied by Chief Smith. The
latter had received a report from
move. He rushed a man to the
Camp Hill farm of Mobley, where
the young man had returned after
quitting his job in Birmingham.
“Come along, Mobley,” the detec-
tive said sharply. “Your pal Pilley
has squealed and put you on the
road to the chair. He’s fixed you
good, all right, and he’s stolen your
girl in the bargain!”
It took little urging ta get Mo-
bley’s confession. It was his car,
he admitted, they had used in both
Birmingham robberies, but Pilley
had been the gunman. Sally Scott
had been with them on the first
job, and he had been crouching in
the back seat when Pilley drove
the car back and forth past the
gas station, thus escaping the man-
ager’s notice.
The Scott girl was not present
when the sandwich shop was rob-
bed, Mobley said, although she
knew about the job. That night,
after Mobley had left for his fam-
ily’s farm, the pretty redhead had
slipped away to meet Pilley. She
admitted this when questioned la-
ter, and confessed that during her
absence of two days from the hotel,
she and Pilley had been together
in another hideaway.
Confronted with Mobley’s state-
ment the next day, the stir-wise
Pilley saw that further denials were
useless and signed a full confes-
sion.
While Mobley pleaded guilty and
was sentenced to life imprisonment
on December 5, 1945, Pilley was
swiftly convicted by a jury and
sentenced to die in the electric
chair. Three months later, after all
appeals had failed, he paid with
his life for the cold-blooded mur-
der of an innocent citizen.
Note: The names Sally Scott,
Charles Horton and Gordon Baxter,
as used in the foregoing story, are
not real but fictitious to protect
persons innocently involved in a
murder case.
Death Plays a Dirge For Dan Kaber
(Continued from page 15)
What went on in. this intrigue?
Did the sorceress have knowledge
no crystal ball could divulge?
r Specially Posed.
aad
the
Ne en ys,
Riddle
orn ta
ob the
Careful Killer
By BURTON LEEDS
Ar 8:45 on the evening of July
llth, 1944 a slim young man, at-
tired in a blue suit, entered the
West End Hamburger Shop on
Tuscaloosa Avenue in Birming-
ham, Alabama. Straddling a stool
near the door, he ordered two
sandwiches and a soft drink. While
waiting to be served, he glanced
around the room at the only other
customers in the place—a couple
with a baby who occupied one of
the booths in the rear.
The newcomer leisurely munched
at his food. Before finishing, he
suddenly rose and slid a fifty-cent
piece over to Robert Spray, the
counterman. The employee picked up the coin,
punched a cash register key, and the drawer
sprang open.
The slim youth, whipping out a. gun, com-
manded gruffly, ‘Hand over the dough.”
Actions of victim
(above), priorto
his murder, baf-
fled the police
Spray froze. An instant later, as he tremblingly be-
gan fingering the money, the door between the dining
room and the kitchen swung open. The proprietor,
forty-year-old George N. Goatley, entered with a tray
of sliced onions and took a few paces forward along the
. Narrow passageway behind the counter.
The gunman threw swift, appraising glances at Spray
and the couple in the booth, then pointed his gun at
Goatley.
“Hey, you!” he threatened.
stick ’em up.”
The owner obeyed the first part of the command, but
instead of raising his hands, he turned around in a
leisurely manner and started retracing his steps.
Things then happened with lightning rapidity. The
gunman pulled the trigger. Goatley sank to the floor
with a bullet in the back of his head. The woman in
the booth screamed and her baby began wailing. The
bandit vanished through the front door. Spray, dashing
to the aid of his stricken employer, called to the man in
the booth, asking him to phone for the police and an
ambulance.
“Put that tray down and
The trigger-happy gunman thought that he had completely covered
all his tracks, but he missed the fact that a redheaded
beauty can cause an upset in the best laid plans
eran rg trip iO REN LD Ndlatide
Oe tT
RS Ser?
Le rele ber
i
,
j
i
+
H
ene Hae a!
<a
ry CT]
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be eter aes ae one inert
82
Riddle of the Careful Killer
(Continued from page 49) no attention to
the man who was driving and that all he
could add about the automobile was that
it was a 1941 model. :
“The girl was a slick chick,” he recalled.
“She had a small, saucy nose and long red
hair in page boy style. I thought she
might be a show girl because of her heavy
make-up,”
In the meantime Chief Eddins was en-
aged at headquarters spearheading other
activities in the hunt for the murderer.
Available details of the crime were flashed
to police authorities over a wide area. The
lethal bullet, retrieved by Dr. Frank Ray,
the physician who had performed the au-
topsy, was sent to Washington for study
by FBI experts.
Detectives assigned to bring Hamilton
in for questioning returned with in-
formation that he had started out for
Pasco, Washington at dawn that morn-
ing. He was making the trip in the au-
tomobile of a friend who was bound for
Los Angeles. According to the suspect’s
relatives, he intended to entrain from that
city for his destination where other mem-
bers of the family resided. Eddins flashed
messages containing his description to law
enforcement officials of strategic cities
along the supposed route. He also phoned
the Pasco, Washington police chief, out-
lining the situation and receiving the
promise that his men would keep on the
alert for the suspect's arrival.
When Norrell and Pierce returned with
an account of their interview with Welch,
Eddins immediately issued instructions for
every member of the force to be on the
watch for a redhead answering the de-
scription given by the attendant,
Though Hamilton was the prime suspect,
the Birmingham police did not remain idle
while awaiting his apprehension. They
turned to make a check of every known
criminal who even remotely resembled
the killer. As the days went by more
than a dozen suspects were put under the
police spotlight. Headquarters was a bee-
hive of activity as detectives interrogated
them and checked their alibis. In the end,
all of these suspects were cleared.
On the morning of the 14th, the FBI
returned the death slug with the following
report: “Rifling marks left on this bullet
by the barrel of the weapon from which
it was fired appeared to be most similar
to those produced by .38 Colt Special re-
volvers. There are sufficient microscopic
marks on the surface to make possible a
comparison of this bullet with test bul-
lets from a suspected weapon should one
be found.”
Norrell and Pierce, in the meantime, had
concentrated their efforts on finding a
trace of the redhead. Three days of in-
cessant search had been fruitless. On
the afternoon of the 15th, as they were
crulsing around the central part of the
city, Norrell suddenly called to his Ppart-
ner.
“Pull up to the.curb, Charlie,” he snid.
“Take a look at the girl in the black car
that’s parked in front of the Mecca Hotel.”
Pierce halted the automobile and looked
over his shoulder. “That sure looks like
the girl we're after,” he remarked. “And
the car is a 1941 Ford.”
They approached the young woman and
identified themselves as police officers,
Norrell wanted to know who owned the
car,
The young woman replicd in lisping -
tones that it belonged to her boy friend,
John Earl Mobley, whom she was mo-
mentarily expecting from his room at the
hotel. She identified herself ax Lenore
Wright, an unemployed manicurist, who
also resided at the Mecca.
While they were talking, Mobley, a tall,
dark man with a long nose and black hair,
came out of the hotel and looked quizzi-
cally at the oMcers. Responding to their
questions, he said he was employed by the
Alabama Drydock Company and had been
a resident of Birmingham for about three
years, He produced papers proving that
he was the owner of the automobile.
“Looking for a stolen car?” he inquired
with a smile.
“No, just a routine investigation about
a robbery,” Norrell advised. “I’d like both
of you to accompany me to headquarters.”
The four climbed into the police car.
Pierce drove it to the Mutual Oil Station
where he got out and held a brief conver-
sation with Welch.
The attendant approached the cruiser
and glanced appraisingly at the couple.
Man (right) was not suspected at first be-
cause his appearance was so strikingly at
variance with that of blond bandit (left)
Walking back to the detective, he said,
“There’s no question that she’s the dame,
Like I told you before, I didn’t pay any
attention to the man so I can’t tell about
him one way or another.”
At headquarters the two were asked
where they had been on the evening of
July 5th, They sat in thought, apparently
trying to.search their memory for the
answer. Suddenly Miss Wright’s face
brightened and she turned to Mobley, re-
minding him that they had picked up one
of her girl friends shortly after eight
o’clock that evening and that the three had
spent the ensuing hours in one of their
favorite night spots.
Turning to the detectives, she smilingly
said that she now understood why the
station attendant had looked them over.
Sure, they were in the neighborhood of
the robbery at about the time it took
place. They had arranged to pick her girl
friend up at the corner of Tenth Street
and Third Avenue which was only a block
away from the victimized oil station. The
friend wasn't there at the appointed time
so they kept circling around the block un-
til she put in an appearance.
The account was corroborated by the girl
in question and Lenore Wright was re-
leased. Mobley, whose appearance was so
strikingly at variance with that of the
blond bandit, was also exonerated of any
complicity in the robbery but was detained
for questioning concerning other crimes
when a check disclosed that back in 1941
he had served a short sentence for a
minor forgery. He came out of the in-
vestigation unscathed and was freed the
following morning.
Ten dayx passed. Then word came trom
Pasco, Washington that John Hamilton,
the sole remaining suspect, was in cus-
tody. The chief advised that the prisoner
strongly protested his innocence and was
willing to come back to Alabama to prove
it.
Hamilton was brought back to Birming-
ham on August 2nd. Not only did he pro-
vide an airtight alibi for the evenings on
which the two crimes were committed.
but the witnesses, upon seeing him in per-
son, were unanimous in affirming that he
could not possibly have been the criminal.
Though there was some Similarity in the
facial features, he was taller, heavier, and
his blond hair a shade darker. It was a
mere coincidence that he happened to
leave town within a few hours after Goat-
ley was murdered. He was Officially cleared
of any complicity.
Nothing new turned up during the six
weeks which followed. It began to look
as if the case would remain unsolved.
Then, in mid-September, Captain Norrell
got a long distance call from Detective
Joseph C. Burch, of the Mobile, Alabama
police department.
Burch advised that four unidentified men
had staged one robbery after another in
the Gulf city. Recently, in a victimized
drug store, the police succeeded in lifting
some latent fingerprints which belonged
to a parolee named George Stanton.
“We're still in the dark about the iden-
tity of his accomplices,” the detective con-
tinued. “We've made a very thorough
search and we're satisfied he’s not around.
This morning we got a tip that he has
relatives in Birmingham. I'd appreciate
it if you would check at the address I'))
give you. It’s likely, too, that his pals
are with him, laying low until they think
it’s safe to return."
The captain promised his cooperation.
Burch advised that a mug shot and a com-
plete description of the Mobile criminal
would go forward at once in the mail,
Within an hour after the receipt of the
data the next morning, Norrell, accom-
panied by Pierce, stood knocking at the
door of a frame dwelling in the northwest
section of the city. The elderly woman
who answered said that she was the aunt
of George Stanton. He had visited her
about two weeks previously, she advised,
and said that he was Planning to spend
some time in Birmingham. She had in-
vited him to stay at her home but had
no room to accommodate the three com-
panions who were with him. He chose
not to accept her invitation because he
wanted to remain in the company of his
friends,
“Did he say where they planned to
stay?”
“It seems to me," she replied thought-
fully, “that he mentioned something about
putting up at a tourist cabin.”
The sleuths compiled a list of all the
motels and tourist lodges in and around
Birmingham, Routinely, they began mak-
ing the rounds of these Places, displaying
Stanton’s picture and inquiring whether
a youth answering his description und
probably accompanied by three other men
had been a guest.
For three days their efforts bore no
fruit. Then, upon visiting the manager
of a tourist court in East Lake, their per-
sistence paid off. He recalled the arrival
of the group and upon consulting his rec-
ords found that they had checked in on
the afternoon of August 31st and had re-
mained over Labor Day. Since Stanton
had registered under an assumed name,
the detectives
done likewise
The o
other me
man whe
the cabi__
waited outsic
Earl Stevens :
with one of h
quarters the
nN woman pur}
The manager |
twenties and s’
on the right
back.
These facts
and Pierce.
of his appeara *
important.”
The operato
glasses, gnaw
the ear rests.
haggard look
and an Adam’
The glance 1
sleuths was sh
lit a cigarette
said, “Tell me
an who came
“Let me cal
suggested, “S
her.”
The man ex
turned with h
girl she knew
twenty-two ye
page boy styl
on the hard sic
done and her
red, were long
“Did she |}
prompted Pier
“She sure d:
lisped.”
Out in the
to their thoug
Lenore Wrigh
said the capta
with the fello
we want can’t
“And to thir
we were
picked ft
quired, “
fits into the pi
|
|
» “He kept
’ ting it to his
2 remarked
orrected the
* at he has a
want to get
1 securing a
of escape,
s and em-
ablish-
ho told
__ked on
v feet from
n the rear
fie
Unusual was the anawer to why witnesses had failed to see anyone at the
wheel of bandit’s car which was parked near alley behind shop (above)
of the hamburger shop. They heard
the motor idling but saw nobody in the
car. Hurrying on toward the theatre,
they heard the shot as they were about
to swing into the main street. An in-
stant later they caught sight of a man
in a blue suit fleeing toward the parked
Ford. They watched him climb into the
car, saw it speed south on Thirteenth
Street, then turn west on Cotton Ave-
nue.
“Sure there was nobody behind the
wheel when you walked by the auto-
mobile?” inquired Norrell.
Both nodded firmly. “But we saw
somebody there all right when we
glanced back after the shot. To tell the
truth, though, we were too interested in
the guy that was running to tell what
the driver looked like. For all we
know, it might even have been a
woman,”
“We'd appreciate it, boys, if you'd
make sure about this,” suggested Pierce.
“Is it possible that your eyes deceived
you and that the man we're after got
away alone in the car?”
“Not by a long shot,” replied the
youngster confidently. “No sir—he
jumped in at the right side, away from
the wheel, and it started off like a flash
even before he hit the seat.”
“Well, how about the car? Can you
tell us something more about that?”
Again they shook their heads, saying
they could add nothing to the meager
description they had given.
The officials, theorizing about the rea-
son for Goatley’s strange behavior be-
fore he was shot down, got nowhere.
It could not have been a vengeance
killing in the guise of an attempted
robbery, they decided, because the vic-
tim was not in sight when the demand
for the money was made.
“Anyway,” suggested the captain not
too hopefully, “let’s have a talk with
his widow. At least we’ll have the sat-
isfaction of knowing that we've neg-
lected no possible angle.”
The sad news, the investigators
learned at the dead man’s home on
Alabama Avenue, had already preceded
them. They found Mrs. Goatley still
highly distraught but the first shock had
already worn off. Like the witnesses,
she knew of no reason why her hus-
band had been so calmly unresponsive
to the killer’s command.
“George was threatened by a young
man who borrowed some money from
him,” she replied in answer to a query
as to whether her husband had any
enemies. “I’ll tell you about what hap-
pened, though I hardly think the in-
cident could possibly have led to his
murder, However, you may think other-
wise.”
The young man in question, she ex-
plained, came from a reputable, com-
fortably-fixed family. He needed
money because of trouble over a girl.
Rather than ask his parents for the
funds and have them learn of his diffi-
culty he borrowed the cash. After he
failed to repay the loan, her husband col-
lected it from his father: In doing so
it became necessary to divulge the rea-
son for the advance. The son’s resent-
ment had led to the threats.
“We've thought about vengeance as a
motive,” advised Norrell, “but decided
it couldn’t be that. However, we’ll check
through on this young man anyway.”
Pierce jotted down the youth’s name
and address. They drove over to an im-
pressive residence on Cotton Avenue
where they conferred briefty with the
young man and his father. Within a
half hour they verified his alibi and
eliminated him as a factor in the case.
Back at headquarters they learned
that the search for a suspect by the
men in the emergency patrol cars had
ended fruitlessly. After they gave Chief
Eddins an account of the developments
he drummed his fingers on the desk,
sent for a file and, riffling through the
sheets, glanced over a report. Then he
pointed out that a man who had held
up the Mutual Oil Station at Ninth
Street and Third Avenue six days
earlier partially fitted the description of
the blond killer.
“You’ve got additional details—the
high torehead and the hollow cheeks,”
he said. “The method of operation seems
to have been similar, too. Although we
have no evidence that this other crim-
inal got away in a car, I’m satisfied
that must have been the case. The at-
tendant on duty at the time of the hold-
up, a man named W. F. Welch, couldn’t
spot him among our pictures. Go sec
Welch and find out if he can confirm
my idea that the same fellow is re-
sponsible for both crimes. Perhaps your
talk will stir him into recalling some-
thing that may be of help.”
Spray and Franklin had in the mean-
time completed a tedious search through
police pictures for possible suspects.
Both agreed that the profile of an ex-
convict named John Hamilton was a
Striking likeness of the blond killer
but they weren’t so sure about the view
of the full face.
Early the next morning the homi-
cide sleuths interviewed Welch. He
quickly confirmed that the man who
had held him up had had a high forehead
and hollow cheeks.
“I simply didn’t think of going into
such detail when I reported the stick-
up,” he explained. “I’m sure that the
guy you’re looking for is the one who
held me up.”
“I know you’ve gone over the pic-
tures at headquarters,” the captain said,
producing a mug shot of Hamilton, “but
I’d like you to look this one over again.
What do you think?”
A thoughtful frown flashed over
Welch’s face. “I kind of hesitated over
this one,” he said. “He might be the
one but I can’t swear to it.”
“And you saw no sign of a car in
the getaway?”
The attendant shook his head. “But
this morning when I read in the paper
about the Ford that the fellow got
away in, I remembered that a car just
like that circled around the block four
or five times before the hold-up. There
was a girl in it who kept looking over
here every time it passed. I thought
she was giving me the eye. But now 1
think that maybe they were casing the
place.”
Pressed for details, Welch said that
he had paid (Continued on page 82)
T
D
49
~~
>» from
nilton,
» CUs-
‘jsoner
id was
prove
rming-
1e pro-
ngs on
mitted,
in per-
‘hat he
‘iminal.
in the
er, and
was a
ned to
r Gouat-
cleared
the six
to look
solved.
Norrell
etective
\labama
ren
in
weed
» lifting
velonged
on,
ve iden-
ive con-
horough
around.
he has
»preciate
iress I'1]
his pals
ey think
peration.
da com-
erlminal
mail.
pt of the
accom-
g at the
1orthwest
y woman
the aunt
sited her
» advised,
to spend
» had in-
but had
iree com-
He chose
ecause he
iny of his
*lanned to
i thought-
ning about
of all the
nd around
egan mak-
displaying
g whether
iption and
other men
re no
anager
. their per-
the arrival
ng his rec-
cked in on
ind had re-
ice Stanton
med name,
the detectives surmised that the others had
done likewise.
The operator could describe only one
other member of the group, a slim, young
man who came in with Stanton to engage
the cabins while two of the foursome
waited outside. He had registered as
Earl Stevens and had spent the first night
with one of his pals but changed to other
quarters the following afternoon when
a woman purporting to be his wife arrived.
The manager judged him to be in his early
twenties and said he had blond hair, parted
on the right side and combed straight
back.
These facts greatly interested Norrell
and Pierce. “Please recall other details
of his appearance,” urged the captain. “It’s
important.”
The operator removed his tortoise shell
glasses, gnawed thoughtfully at one of
the ear rests. “I'd say he had a sort of
haggard look on his face. Hollow cheeks
and an Adam's apple that jutted out.”
The glance that now passed between the
sleuths was sharp and meaningful. Norrell
lit a cigarette, took a puff or two, then
said, “Tell me something about this wom-
an who came to visit him.”
“Let me call my missus,” the manager
suggested. “She had more dealings with
her.”
The man excused himself and soon re-
turned with his wife. She said that the
girl she knew as Mrs. Stevens was about
twenty-two years old with red hair in
page boy style. Her full face was a bit
on the hard side. Her make-up was over-
done and her fingernails, painted a deep
red, were long and pointed.
“Did she have uny speech
prompted Pierce.
“She sure did,” was the response. “She
lisped.”
Out in the car the oMcers gave voice
to their thoughts. “If that redhead isn't
Lenore Wright then I’m no detective,”
said the captain. “Her showing up here
with the fellow who looks like the one
we want can’t be a coincidence.”
“And to think,” lamented Pierce, “that
we were on the right track when we first
picked her up.” After a pause, he in-
quired, “Say, where do you think Mobley
fits into the picture?”
defect?”
Lat frre
. ’ .
“We'll have to leave that and a few
other questions for the future,” replied
Norrell. “The important thing now is to
find her.”
gad at headquarters the captain phoned
Detective Burch, giving him an account
of the search for the members of the gang
from Mobile.
“We're mighty grateful that you asked
us to get a line on this mob for you,” said
Norrell happily. “Get this! That slim
blond hoodlum is the one we want for
murder.”
“You don’t say!” exclaimed Burch. “That
being the case, I’ve got more good news
for you.”
The Mobile detective explained that
while the Birmingham sleuths were busy
tracking the mob down he had made a
check of Stanton’s record at Speigner
Prison and ascertained that a cellmate
Robert Steve Pilley had been paroled at
about the same time. Although there was
no direct evidence that Pilley had been
a member of the Stanton gang, he became a
suspect when an investigation revealed
that he had left his brother’s home, failed
known to
and two other criminals at the time of
the local robberies.
“The blond fellow you've described,”
Burch went on, “is Pilley. ‘You can get
a print of his mug from the penitentiary.
What's more, if he’s your killer, it’s quite
likely that a gun we picked up the other
day was the one he used to commit the
murder.”
The captain could hardly believe his
ears, Excitedly he asked the other why
he thought it might be the gun used in
the slaying.
Burch explained that during the course
of the investigation into the wave of
crimes, all known criminals, as a routine
measure, were arrested on sight and in-
terrogated. One with a minor record
was riding in his automobile when a traffic
officer stopped him and found a .38 Colt
Special in the glove compartment. Upon
being questioned at headquarters, the
criminal sald that the gun was given him
as collateral for a twenty-dollar loan which
he made to a young man who approached
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JACK DEMPSEY
Immortals
Edited by
Emest Duy os
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“BOB FELLER
JOE DIMAGGIO
CONNIE MACK
KONUS: WAGNER
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hin dno tavern nometinie darko the latter
part of July. The weapon wus supposed
to be redeemed in the same place a week
later but the borrower never showed up.
“It sounded like a fish story, especially
when he insisted that he didn't know the
name of the fellow who owned the gun,”
suid Burch. “However, when he gave Us
a detailed descriptiou and we showed him
the mugs of hoodlums who fitted it, he
picked out the picture of Pilley. He said
that he couldn’t possibly be wrong and that
he’s willing to prove it in front of Pilley
whenever we want him to do so.”
That afternoon Pierce boarded a train
for Mobile. Norrell, starting a hunt for
Lenore Wright, went.to the Mecca Hotel
where he learned that Mobley and the red-
head had checked out on July 16th, the
day after their interrogation. Neither had
left a forwarding address.
The captain drove over to the office of
the Alabama Drydock Company. There
he discovered that Mobley began a two-
week vacation on July 17th. Failing to
return when due, his name was stricken
from the employment roll. The records
showed that his parents lived at Camp
Hill, Alabama.
TT OFFICIAL’S next move was to visit
the girl who had corroborated Lenore
Wright's alibi for the evening af July 5th.
Subjected to vigorous questioning, she
admitted that she might have been mis-
taken about the date. She explained that
Lenore and Mobley had more or less fre-
quently picked her up at the same street
intersection which was not far from her
home and that she might therefore have
been confused about it. Lenore, she re-
vealed, was living at the Arden Hotel.
The captain found that the redhead was
registered there, Inquiry brought to light
that after she checked in on September
3rd a young man who answered Pilley's
description visited her regularly for a few
days.
The door of her room opened in re-
sponse to the officer’s knock. She stood
on the threshold, frowned in recognition
and said, “What now?”
“You'll find out,” he answered dryly.
“Come along with me.”
Facing him in his office, she at first
maintained a calm reserve. But as he dis-
closed what he knew about her association
with Pilley, she paled and became visibly
agitated.
“You're in a tough spot,” the captain
said. “Let's forget, for the present, about
the robbery. Pilley committed that mur-
der at the hamburger shop. Where do you
come in on that?”
The girl’s lips twitched nervously. “I'll
tell you everything,” she said finally.
She insisted that she had no knowledge
of the killing. She admitted knowing
about the oil station robbery but contended
that her part in it was an unwitting one
until the hold-up netually took place,
“The only crime I committed,” she
sobbed, “was not telling the truth about
it afterwards.”
During the latter part of June, she dis-
closed, she met Pilley for the first time in
Mobley’s room at the Mecca Hotel. The
two had been inmates together in Speigz-
ner. Pilley kept calling at the hotel and
began propositioning Mobley about com-
mitting robberies. On the evening of
July 5th, when Welch was held up, the
three got into the Ford, ostensibly, as she
was led to believe, for a ride around town,
She sat up front with Mobley while Pilley
sat in back. She first suspected that they
were planning a job when Mobley circled
around the block a few times, Pilley
crouching down on the floor 40 us not to
be seen from the outside. Pilley finally
got out of the car a short distance from
.
the gua station. N
idling. Pilley can
three minutes or :
speeding away she
that the job had ne
“My being along
axhe sald. “LT fool
best thing for me
my mouth sh
The young
plete lack oO}
that took place oF
1ith. On the follo.
Mobley requested
the railroad term
a ticket for Mobile
blond youth had +}
ing a romantic int
had not discourag,
became aware of t
words about it. :
after their interro:
had left Birmingh:
of his parents in ¢
of her knowledge
I" WAS late afte:
in touch with t!
County in which C
ing him to arrest
Within two hours
he was in custoc
to get him placed
jail before noon t
Confronted wit!
him, Mobley was
corroborated the
statement and ma
part he had .playe
to the murder.
He disclosed tha
he had borrowe¢
from a fellow em
the slaying. He
plice to the rear
and waited, with !
to return. In
stretched himself
so that passers by
he heard the sho
as Pilley mounte:
sped away. He a
no guilty knowle
and his accomplic
her to return th:
at the plant but fi
idea. FP he
with hin ih
Down vile
and Pierce haa cc
the blond killer.
sources indicated
the detectives fa
of the haunts wh:
quent. Finally, a
noon of October
of a car bearins
characters. After
fh
atter
vosed
veek
to up.
‘dally
’ the
sun,”
e us
him
». he
said
that
illey
train
t for
fotel
red-
. the
> had
ce of
‘here
two-
ig to
cken
cords
‘amp
visit
‘nore
5th.
she
mis-
that
have
. re-
‘he
: was
light
mber
Ney’s
i few
1 re-
stood
sition
iryly.
first
* dis-
vation
isibly
ptain
about
mur-
o you
. “Tn
ledge
wing
ended
gy one
ice,
she
, about
e dis-
me in
~. The
Speig-
‘lL and
com-
ng of
p, the
as she
town.
the gas station. Mobley kept tl. motor
idling. Pilley came rushing back after
three minutes or so. While they were
speeding away she heard him tell Mobley
that the job had netted seventy dollars.
“My being along put me on the spot,”
she said. “I foolishly thought that the
best thing for me to do was to keep
my mouth shut.”
The young woman reiterated her com-
plete lack of knowledge of the events
that took place on the evening of July
11th. On the following morning, however,
Mobley requested her to drive Pilley to
the railroad terminal where he bought
a ticket for Mobile. She admitted that the
blond youth had previously begun show-
ing a romantic interest in her and that she
had not discouraged it. Her boy friend
became aware of the affair and they had
words about it. They split up the day
after their interrogation in July. Mobley
had left Birmingham to work at the farm
of his parents in Camp Hill. To the best
of her knowledge he was still there.
T WAS late afternoon when Norrell got
in touch with the sheriff of Tallapoosa
County in which Camp Hill is located, ask-
ing him to arrest the dark-haired suspect.
Within two hours word came back that
he was in custody. Detectives assigned
to get him placed him the Birmingham
jail before noon the fol owing day.
Confronted with the evidence against
him, Mobley was quick to confess. He
corroborated the details in the redhead’s
statement and made a clean breast of the
part he had .played in the events that led
to the murder.
He disclosed that his car and a .38 which
he had borrowed, upon Pilley’s urging,
from a fellow employee had been used in
the slaying. He had driven his accom-
plice to the rear of the hamburger shop
and waited, with his motor idling, for him
to return. In the meantime he had
stretched himself out on the front seat
so that passers by couldn’t see him. When
he heard the shot he sat up and as soon
as Pilley mounted the running board he
sped away. He affirmed that Lenore had
no guilty knowledge of the killing. He
and his accomplice first considered asking
her to return the revolver to its owner
at the plant but finally decided against the
idea. Pilley, he said, took the weapon
with him when he left town.
Down in Mobile, in the meantime, Burch
and Pierce had concentrated on a hunt for
the blond killer. Tips from underworld
sources indicated he was in the city but
the detectives failed to spot him in any
of the haunts which he was known to fre-
quent. Finally, at about 4:30 on the after-
noon of October 12th, they caught sight
of a car bearing four suspicious-looking
characters. After trailing it for more than
a half hour, they suddenly crowded it to
a halt in a mid-city street. Caught by
surprise, the four men submitted quietly
to arrest. When their identity was estab-
lished the oMcials found that they had hit
a criminal jackpot—Pilley and his three
accomplices in the Mobile crimes.
The following day Pierce returned to
Birmingham with the prisoner and the 38
Colt revolver. Not only was it identified
by Mobley as the gun he had borrowed
but ballistics tests showed conclusively
that the rifling marks on the bullet which
had killed Goatley were precisely similar
to those produced by test bullets fired
from the gun.
T FIRST Pilley admitted nothing. Final-
ly, realizing the overpowering weight
of the evidence against him, he made a
confession, the details of which jibed in
every respect with the information in
the hands of the police.
No charges were brought against Lenore
Wright. The authorities, satisfied that she
had played no part in the murder and an
incidental and unintentional one in the
robbery, cleared her completely.
The two prisoners denied knowing Goat-
ley. They insisted that they had never
seen his shop before the evening of the
killing and that their choice of it to be
held up was a haphazard one. The reason
behind Goatley’s unusual behavior at the
time of the hold-up has never been ascer-
tained.
On December 6th, 1944 Robert Steve
Pilley was found guilty of first degree
murder and sentenced to death in the
electric chair. In Alabama appeal from
a death sentence is automatic, so the sen-
tence was scheduled for review by the
higher court.
After many delays the trial of John
Earl Mobley ended on October 8th, 1945
in a verdict of guilty of murder in the first
degree with a life sentence in the Kilby
Prison at Montgomery. There was no
appeal and he at once began paying the
penalty for his crime.
The review of the death sentence in
Pilley’s case culminated in a decision sus-
taining the sentence imposed. The blond
killer was executed on April 19th, 1946.
Epiror’s NOTE:
The names John Hamilton, Lenore
Wright, and George Stanton, as used in
this story, are not the real names of
the persons concerned. These persons
have been given fictitious names to pro-
tect their identities.
A photograph of Steve Pilley (left)
and John Mobley (right) appears on
page 82.
A photograph of the victim, George
Goatley, appears on page 46.
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PLANT, Thomas, black, hanged Bay Minette, Baldwin Co., July 8, 1904,
“Bay Minette, July 8.-The first legal execution in Baldwin County since the war and the
first in the history of the county occurred here today when Tom Plant, a negro convict, paid the
penalty on the scaffold for the murder of a fellow convict, also a negro at Dolive fifteen months
ago. Plant claimed the negro he killed owed him $2.00 which he refused to return, and he stabbed
him twice in the neck, from which death ensued.
“Plant was an exceptionally smart negro and had a fair education. In a speech he made
before the execution, today, and with a calm, steady voice, he preached his own funeral, justly
- condemning himself, but said he had made his peace with God and would soon be in Paradise.
A large crowd from all parts of Baldwin County and from several adjoining counties was present.
A collection was taken up after the execution to defray the expense of sending the body of Plant
to his home in Georgia.”-Register, Mobile, AL, 7/9/1904.
“Thomas Plant, a negro, was hanged at Bay Minette, Baldwin Co., Ala., for the murder of |
a fellow prisoner in a stockade.”-News, Birmingham, AL, 7/8/1904.
The victim’s name was Will Thomas, They were convicts working at Hand Lumber Co. in
Dolive and lived in a stockade on the grounds. The night before the murder, they had argued
over a mechandise check. Plant walked to the place where Thomas was working and stabbed him
twice in the neck and once more in the back after Thomas fell. He claimed that he had killed in
self defense, and, on his way to being locked up he said: “I want to kill another son of a bitch and
then they can hang me.”-37 Southern 159. )
PITTS, Simon, black, hanged at Clayton, Alabama, on July 20, 1888.
"MURDER BY A BLIND NEGRO, = On Saturday night last, (May 13) Simon, a
blind negro pauper, who has been in the poor house for a number of
years, killed another negro pauper, London Walker. After they had
gone to bed, “imon got up and taking his axe, approached the bed of the
sleeping pauper and struck him three or four blows with the axe,
killing him, the old negro, all the time begging him to desist.
London fell off the bed to the floor while Simon was striking him with
his axe until he was dead. London was said to be 108 years old. When
the poor house keeper and some of the neighbors had got to the house,
Simon told them that he had killed London and asked them if they had
come to hang him. Simon says he killed him because he took a piece of
lightwood that belonged to him. Sheriff Long went after him on Sunday
evening and he is now in jail. Court meets next week, and probably
Simon will be tried at this term(/" COURIER, Clayton, Alabama,
Saturday, May 19, 1888 (3-3).
"The trial of blind Simon, who killed an old negro at the poor house
last week is set for next Tuesday." COURIER, Clayton, Alabama,
May 26, 1888 (3-2),
"The blind negro, Simon, who killed &X8B another negro pauper, London
Walker, at the Poor House, a few weeks since, was tried on Tuésday and
convicted of murder, The judge sentenced him to be hanged on the 20th
of July next." COURIER, Clayton, Ala., June 2, 1888 (3-3.)
NTAEXKAKUX |
"Next Friday, blind “imon will suffer the extreme penalty of the law for
the murder of a negro pauper at the poor house a few weeks since,"
COURIER, Clayton, Ala., July 1), 1888 (3-3.)
"BLIND SIMON HANGED, - Between 12 and 2 o'clock on Friday (July 20,
1888), Blind Simon, the old negro, who killed another negro pauper at the
poor house and was tried and convicted at the spring term of the cir-
cuit court, expiated his crime on the gallows. The hanging was private
and but few persons saw it, and they were those whom the laws allow to
witness executions, A large crowd of negroes from the surrounding coun-
try were here, not because they had the opportunity to see the criminal
hung, for that they could not do, but for a holiday and to enthuse over
the fact that their liberty gave them the privilege of being in town on
all important occasions, especially such as hangings, picnics and courts.'
COURIER, Clayton, Alabama, July 21, 1888 (3-3.)
t
The University efAlabdme
School of Law
Box 1435
University, Alabama 35486-1435
PLANT, Th ,
» Thomas, black, hanged Bay Minette, Alae, 7-8-L90h
atelian. Liat VAD ee Fiz
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rOO-3A~-LA, Indian, hanged for murder, Girard, AL 12-12-1834,
Montgomery llth November 1834.
Hon. John Gayle
Dear Sir
You will receive herewith Record in the case
of the State vs Poosala alias Tommy, an Indian convicted at the
last term of the Circuit Court of Russell Co8unty of the crime of
murder. From an examination of the Record it will be perceived
that the jury has recommended him to the mercy of the Executive
I also enclose the letters of Judge Crenshaw, the Solicitor
Coln. Pickett, as well as those of the Clerk of the Circuit &
County Courts and the Sheriff of the County to the same effect.
It is presumed that nothing from the Counsel could add anything to
the weighty recommendations of the Judge, Solicitor & Jury.
Should the prisoner be deemed from the evidence a brief
abstract of which is also submitted, as well as the accompanying
recommendation a fit subject for Executive Clemency, a pardon fo
rwarded to this place would receive the necessary attention in
forwarding it to the Sheriff of Russell County there being as I am
informed no post office there.
The second Friday in December next is the day appointed for
the execution of the sentence.
Very Respectfully
Your Obt.. Serve.
Geo. Goldthwaite.
(Papers of Gov. John Gayle, Ala. Dept. c= Arch. &- History,
Montgomery, Alabama. )
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Russell Court House 15 Oct. 1834.
Dear Sir,
During the present term of the Circuit Court for Russell
County an Indian by the name of Poosala alias Tommy was convicted
of murder on evidence which I think was barely sufficient to
authorize the conviction. The circumstances of provocation hereto
annexed were made out by his counsel Mr. Goldthwaite, and are
substantially the same as appeared in evidence at the trial.
I should have been satisfied had the jury returned a verdict
of manslaughter. They have, however, recommended the prisoner to
the mercy of your Excellency, and permit me to say that I think him
a proper subject of pardon. Independent oif the circumstances of
provocation, he appears to be a very young man and extremely
ignorant of our laws and institutions. The 2nd Friday in December
is the day fixed for his execution and he has been confined in jail
already two months, so that if he should be pardoned he will have
undergone some punishment.
I am with great respect
Anderson Crenshaw
His Excellency
Jno. Gayle, Esq.
I fully concur in the sentiments expressed on the opposite page by
His Honor Judge Crenshaw as respects the circumstances attending on
the trial of the Indian Tommy and believe it a fit subject of
Executive Clemency
Wm. J. P(?)
Sol. Sth Circuit.
We being present and hearing the trial in the casse of the state vs
Poosala alias Tommy for murder fully concur in the opinion of his
Honor the Judge and the Solicitor & the Jury trying the case that
he is a fit & proper subject for the Exercise of Executive Clemency
& recommend him to your Excellency as such
William Williamson, clk c. ct.
Russell County
G. W. Elliott, Shff.
(Papers of Gov. John Gayle, Alabama Dept. of Archives & History,
Montgomery, AL)
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Russell County, Ala. Oct. 16th, 1834.
Hon. John Gayle
Sir
At the present term of the Circuit, an Indian by
the name of Poosala or Tommy was convicted of murder. We are
acquainted with the prisoner and have every reason to believe that
he will immediately remove to Arkansas should he receive a pardon.
In addition we would join with His Honor the Judge, the
solicitor, and the jury in recommending the Prisoner as a fit
subject for executive clemency.
Very Respectfully
Your obt. servants,
J. G. Worsham, Clerk of the
County Court,
G. W. Bleiott, Sart.
Wm. Williamson, Clk.
Circuit Court.
(Papers of Governor John Gayle, Alabama Department of Archives and
History, Montgomery, Alabama. )
four regular Jurors now in attendance making in all thirty six
Jurors (?) to compose the Jurors to pass upon his trial. it .is
further ordered that the prisoner be forth with furnished with a
copy of the indict ment anda list of the Jury.
The State This day came William D. Pickett, Esquire
vs who plrosecutes for the State of Alabama
Poosala alias Tommy as well as the said defendant in his own
(?)person whereupon came a jury of good & lawful men to wit Amos
King, Stukeley Turner, David Wood, Moses Mankin, Tolliver Hale,
Tyna Whatley, Wilborn Bryant, Colin McMurphy, Robert McQueen,
Fountain Davis, Steplhen Phillips, and William Holden who being
selected tried & sworn will & truly (...?...) make between the
state of Alabama and the prisoner at the bar on their oaths do say
they find the prisoner guilty in manner & form as charged in the
Bill of Indictment but recommend him to the mercy of the Executive.
The State
vs
Poosala alias Tommy The prisioner being this day brought to
the Bar of the Court, and being asked if he has any thing to say
why sentence should not be pronounced against him answeres he has
nothing. Whereupon the Copurt proceeded to pass the sentence of
the law to the following effect: that is to say that the said
Poosala alias Tommy6 on the second Friday in December next at some
convenient place in the said County of Russell be hung b y the
neck until he is entirely dead and that the Sheriff be charged with
the execution of this judgment.
The State of Alabama
Russell County I, William Williamson, Clerk of the
Circuit Court of said County do hereby certify that the foregoing
pages contain a true transcrip of the Record and proceedings on
file in my office in the case of the State vs Poosala alias Tommy
on a charge of Murder.
Given under my hand and private seal having no seal of office this
16th day of October A D 1834.
William Williamson (His seal.)
(Papers of Governor John Gayle, Alabama Department of Archives and
History, Montgomery, Alabama. )
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POO-SA-LA, In., hanged Russell Co., Ala. 12-12-1834
The State of Alabama Transcript of Records and
Russell County and proceedings in the Case of the
State vs Poosala alias
Tommy.
Indictment.
The State of Alabama Circuit Court
Russell County October term 1834.
The Grand Jurors for the County of Russell on their oaths
present that Poosala ali9as Tommy, an Indian man late of said
County on the tenth day of October in the year of our Lord One
thousand Eight hundred and thirty four in the County aforesaid
being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil with force
and arms upon in and upon one Indian woman named Fhaselahaku in the
peace of God then and thre being feloniously willfully and of
malice aforethought did make an assault and that the said Poosala
alias Tommy with a certain knife of the value of twenty five cents
which the said Poosala alias Tommy in his right hand held (7?) the
said Fhaselahaku in and upon the left side just below the ribs of
the said Fhaslelahaku then and there feloniously willfully and of
his malice aforethought did strike thrust stab and penetrate giving
to the same Fhaselakaku then and there with the said knife in and
upon the left side just below the ribs of her the said
Fhaslelahaku one mortal wound of the depth of four inches and of
the length of two inches of which said mortal wound the said
Fhaslelahaku on the tenth day of October in the year aforesaid and
until the twelfth day of October in the year aforesaid did languish
and (?) did live on which said twelfth day of October in the year
above said the said Fhaslelakaku of the mortal wounds did then &
there dieand to the Jurors aforesaid do say that the said Poosala
alias Tommy kill the said Fhaselakaku in manner & form aforesaid
and did kill & murder against the peace and dignity of the State of
Alabama.
William D. Pickett
Sol. 8th Circuit.
Endorsed "A True Bill" (..... Ts 0 < 0% ) - Four men of the Grand Jury.
Minutes of Proceedings.
The State Indictment for murder.
vs
Poosala alias Tommy In this case the prisonber being
arraigned on the Indictment pleads thereto no guilty and having
waived the two days previous notice of the copy of the indictment
and list of the Jury who are the pass on his trial consents to go
to trial on Wednesday next. It is therefore ordered that the
Sheriff forthwith summon thirty two talismen who together with the
: sy = = oa
POWELL, Dock, black, 27, elec. Ala. (Clay) 1-27-1912.
Wark tavtl, 27, Mack, be? Chey (i208 ou ath 19 #2
fer Aus Peat uw rnecrha y Wire Miry Spell, Larrstl cx
akbar ee. (6-11-19). Ou Aayrhefers e¢tecTion lade o
Wurde. t telau og cans :
Novodke 220k ¢
: g z —
5 ery Hee wa es us hina
oe fatid Gruner be OMe
jaw &
. felled Pop P2gS II.
t Aavraked fod
“i Heal og Lelorsel few
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shat 1 es Eager
loci 7% ; our Gelece Z Pcvrpiley, Aen
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fad Heck Cr hebewr PKOL oC. “Ley, Tepe gt be FD
ihe oe Heep. Lace OH LCL fe are wa. Beara. > ofan
CONG hes: “nw Jicahere lic bake. Ci ee T LE: | ECR.
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~ POWELL,’ Jim and RODGERS, Joe : ‘
Blacks, hanged at Birmingham, Ala., March 25, 1910. They went to Ens-
ley during the State Fair in 1908 and entered store of John Simms,
black merchant, where they ordered S¢ worth of tobacco, They gave 10¢
in payment and as Simms was making change, Powell drew pistol and
pointed at him, Simms grabbed gun and was about to get the better of
Powell ‘him when Powell cried to Rodgers to shoot which Rodgers did,
Powell admitted to number of robbergs and siad he.shot Herbert Johnson
on lth St., Birmingham, on July th for which he was never arrested.
Powell reared in Goodwater, Alae, and Rodgers also native of Alabamae
Smallest crowd to ever witness hanging saw in Jefferson County saw
this one, even newsmen being deputized. Both spoke from gallows,
Rodgers saying that his mother and white friends tried to send him to
school and teach him to do right thing but he would not listen,
Powell said that since he was born almost had been bad, had stolen,
committed highway robbery byt had never killed any man, At Rodgers!
request, Dep. Sheriffs Joe Bantznester and Eugene Robinson mounted
scaffold and shook hands with both men. bever of trap pulled by
Sheriff Higdon. Dep. Sheriff Percy Higdon cut string holding lever anc
in doing so severely wounded two fingers of the Sheriff, inflicing an
injury which Dr. had to dress immediately, Drop fell at 11:03 and
Powell, the smaller, quivered for several minutes. Rodgers never
moved after fall. Powell declared dead in 11 minutes and Rogers in
18 minutes, both necks being broken. Both bodies given to relatives,
— é
Powell's to go to Kellyton and Rodgers to be buried in Birmingham,
They were baptized in bathbub in county jail at 9 AM on morning of
deaths. The widow of Simms and her sister allowed to visit and they
begged the wmens! forgiveness which was givens
BIRMINGHAM NEWS, Birmingham, Ala,, March 25, 1910,
Evident ly no appeal,
v e
Kihen ut hewee tN bh ined thy bac
aot kor ener egies
hoe
drive OF SEM t tat che
Lard Yrageees 0-67 yi (1-1)
2 resent chairman :
sa have Bice
riend introduced
aK!
Rue were in charge’
and « se
Z eam
theo}
- Misar of foreiza ss
“teed” forces participating.” The
: Prench nctilthed 2 Nearly 350,000 /~
Sila
“but
army counter ath
| Were said to navy
E buried their heaviest tanks tnto a
oy ibd yeDUn rer thrust. on the
: er Prey, the attack Was | a detibers
Britisher lett the scene,
. The
. = Disinly
e was beneath
Rai}
“Was
+ @vernight by Nazi
_Battlefietde:. corde. wore! |
POve ~ ri
direction . of the sound of -the
y| AMerican
yer without tak.|
to. learn its” iden. oe
~ | Northwest Floric
wil: be held tom
Springs, official).
tion
as ;
Sutamnal snow Curries ang G. Bs
: Iman’ commentators sald thar pad
Wea Toads.
+ rT oerman = oe
aoe a munis
Hy
ronnie i i Garrison
af rhe yekaora
the rear of the Garrison.
home, | =
cU- band fs | Considerably, below thie level eS se
of. the’
view of
-trpops:- “att fely
to cheek extension of the German
are of aacirclement in. the. Ka-
Yestetday, ae Soviet
ees =
tid Bryansk
43.600 Anvad-T pe
‘Biate t
“as Infar snd ook a
street, shielding it from] :
Passing the house.| : ee GAL |
_ sald apparently. Miss y We, the foliowin
illed in the garden Rotice “uae
Lor Sarid pinto. the plaice with House :
1 “the
| marked by.
and
8 to regain the’ initiative, ‘eral
Thowever> held” Paalor™ tent
~ the “1916 — _bettle ‘of. vere
is iW emaller. time.
_
Stalin's scorched
‘when th
a | Yast night to; tAINCALE Or ale une
San iene
“earth policy
were ‘forced to fal!
line of the Soviet retreat is “pet ny. noe
houses, barns Oct. 25, 22. 98; No
villages set fire by the Bol-'
cities In poorer
ard an contd loon
jel declared, “ts bi
aia ante Tatst Mara:
‘of ae of Ger. first of: three Japanese ships re-
Sie Soldters, crippied: tanks suming: maltoes
to --the’ - “United 57
344045 oe + “FRAP boat
al u
'p ays coat ae advance,
Dr Kitch, Calitornta Institute
only, recently. announced ‘the dis-
covery that weather gallows” cer
tain: 6 sl which are repeated,
i with varistions, at Jong intervals,
Now ‘he says he hea found pet
palterna. ste. tofiienend
Tibchy cae tot
MU the earth ta certain’ areas.” This
must bring satisfaction to Dr Ab- |
ability of solar, radiation. “its ab:
sorptlog. in the solar and terres-
triat envelopes, and- effects of tte
ie 4 and ‘cooked on a solar
fam’ aya and cooked pmporan
ilson
T nection with the slaying yester-| fe
j day of Miss. Mary Webster Garri-
tion ealed. ‘the woman had i
f= rr 4n the heart after!
being struck ever the head with a
blunt. ins
assaulted.
oman’s father, Judge E J Gar-
wan ae SE
when he and his wife returned
j after an absence of several hours.
#6 «Residents of the district imme-
diately blocked roads leading into
@ Ashland: and bioodhounds ° were
g cent from Heflin, Ala, and Kilby
prison.
suspect, Dempsey said. was
grit uct, Dempsey sald, was
by a sheriff's posse and placed in
g fie -Ashignd, jai Later be. @as
PRESTON, Johnny, black, elece Ala. SP (Lee County) February 21, 1936. \
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PRESTON, Johnny, black, electrocuted SP (Lee Co.), February 21, 1936.
Preston, 31, was convicted of the brutal rape-murder 10-year-old niece, Eloise Swanson,
on April 7, 1935. Relatives of the girl turned him over the the Sheriff of Lee County that night
after they discovered that she was missing. She had been assaulted and strangled to death with a
piece of rope. Preston was tried at the Spring Term of the Lee County Circuit Court and on May
17 he was convicted and the death penalty assessed by a jury which deliberated for less than 2
hour. He was defended by court appointed attorneys J. Arch McKee and B. T. Phillips.-Daily
News, Opelika, AL, 2/21/1936.
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FOC? PI sien Cort Lan nt oo”
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(hey AA as aA- ware Aga tue Gra, at-our- fo
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} f 7 Oran o to: Sac eaia Cm, baase? i ttha. ae Tare pore |
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J
purrs Kite ghe® ey eae ; bat. Hes, fit ty-teo Gin toh
(Aen Cane Chaat he Ov fer Ju bye er. Boor ere. eeehior
Linn ty Yforter var tact fu bon yor
tee mee, té Tc a lon a A arot€ou— Y cd es~ <>
Cs ee A fy, : |
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ony AGJA br
eh dekefe-
a ; / 4 P {
i ame 4
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i i
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N piers
4 ? om Peary ee ae : 2
if y Bie - Z
Jom fla Pp Lircgsed ey: é
nan
This i5-Hhe Sack
of 7
ONE a iy (JACK) Mus ee ig Yer SVofe.
A slave was hanged in “estmoreland Co., Vaey
FAN2Y for burglary and stealing.
Ltr. dtd. 3-27-1985 from Philip J. Schwartz, Va. Common-
weath University. His_source: O,der Book, Westmoreland
County, 1705-1721,@2ab, 150) pages 32A -33A
According to ltr. dtd. 4-23-1985 from Schwartz, the slave's
name was Jack (owner not known) and he was hanged in Essex
County for an Spe hs felony. A oi
“Tift. it Noo eM Pea Gege’
: Pe tet Abst?
oe © spe Shae
4
4
He
Milan Wf
tebe
4. 4 fas f-
Se
Adluivalty Records net fornsf
"2 .0n,.e(dJan, 28, 1718-19), two other condemned
pirates who were held aboard ship were sent
ashore at Hampton, Virginia, and there hung.
Their names are not recorded. But it is very
significant to nate that Capt. Johnson EXMXEZY
cites as his source for theese two as the. log-
book entry of HMS PEARL for the same date€esee
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE LIVES AND ADVENTURES OF
THE MOST FARMOUS HIGHWAYMEN, MURDERERS, 8trece,s
PyoP te Charles Johnson, publisheddLondon,
|
TWO PIRATES
"Hannah' a negro woman slave “* ~~ 1727
(need O) Eke
beh Ci ay ie Zoek
Fr a. fe e/7/- yah 7290 Tee lns09e.
"Whereas 'Hannah' a negro woman belonging to George -
Walker of Eltzabeth City County was by a Commnisston
of Oyer & Terminer convicted of murder and executton
awarded against her, but before the day of the sd.
execution the sherrtf died, whereby the sd. negro
remains still in prison the sentence aforesaid not
executed, tt is the opinion of thts Board that a
warrant be prepared for the President's signing
dtrecting the execution of the sd. negro pursuant
to the former sentence and a warrant was prepared
accordingly."
aL
7A
hy gz if 2 | ; x ! 4
gh ZL f ; os a ¥
gn ns, Ce. eVE AO OLE Le bet FA ; :
|
ae: oe. Cl erage a ue co repheetf Lead Zope. a ~ Lecce hues
POF of - raat
Le ape tHe Le aa
o 8: .. ty
Ze ) 3 \ 5 a feds floss :
as . é
_
Lf ae
‘ , aw A ; & >, a :
7" L? Ke aceeke ¢ Cecil see Om, |
{
F - KE fera. a oe 4
ee ee io ae |
Hany hs oe bs a Mo = t fe! —_—
3) : Lo. Zinn mee et ee ete; aes A
leas Ay <f-2 ea ot 4, heal & Fo |
fF ehh Leen erg a acta lh
- as 7 ie BCL PF . ef on ae i; ote : | a et 4
: ees Po pA a yoke ee ee ee ey a Boo 7 +E
|) Coen og A fog on fous APOE Yom |
é
“> e
Nar ad
aa ae
a
tom
VL,
SUNG (tn
J Moon 6 | Ve “, lf PPL?)
7
flaking Od on |
| OCG YI jou g OSL. AZ
fl ffs
fli loa ve
D~Yer GC
ae se
APs 2t4O ;
, nF$ f! Lo, off, G2
-
Y v
a A fi’ . ; ; LL
7 4 L Sek. f YO (P06
i): Pare
4 fe, s ie . | -
“CCCI (2 thn colt ly °7 at
; : a
Af Wi fk
_ 4 ; Mf ee
; WI ple herd
“A yg 1C ? fA Fr
78 ee as .
LZ. ,, en a e “pe a ( ;
=> . Af e \ a wie
| ; a, he , \ \
A 12 , *. - 3h,
Cs COE are LO fa a
a op Z Jd,
[UPL J pies
oe y |
s ; Leer fo. iE Ps Of: F
LE COE |
a Pom
F if” 17 : fu: po 2 .
CELE <<a 73 '
a «+ ' . :
7 OOS re mos — oo . 7 etme ore mentee or
Aa PO”
Source: Journals of the Executive Council of Col-
onial Virginia. Entry dated 6-15-1727.
Sentenced to death on 4-9-4 % Fir murder
of Negro Fompey, a slave of her Same household.
Crime committed A187. Stabbed hin with a finife.-
Valuation X35 She was executed th late une -
On page AA Y of Order Book, nTrg gated /A-1§-A7
nds of Toh
County Atvy Curt alowed 776 a v4 " —ACCO
C2 . 7 wt. overmeb HOLE flere 2h 2K ~ N
a by “fp Que oo Ce Cart o-
wen AL Lag
ct tap pa a A
eas hod LDA. CEL Le T sep ae ner
o~ Nlec Let |
f
PN armas At GH >>; ep
| ee ore Ae
re ie LWW) Le pjeeaen
(as a, | |
Goth PACES Me (O'e 2
tee rb ie. Ment i ws
a ae Lert rs
. F ow «Ci Neat
a
td
Lh ‘a of
ee ae Oa lade 9 rs
se a? is ;
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18
TS le ee OF" [
Littleton Pike Uo, AL
yi Lt leton, <
PALNGG, Ltt
CO
WN
\N
eg,
—
| A person Named Littleton p
yesterday examined before
hoirae, charged
who hed followed
“Alabama, willy
‘rom that county,
him, ang
(sreen Ball,
‘lings CUP. [Te woe
“tder for deliver
Mana =~ ince |
ried at
‘‘ourt, fo
to be
rince,
Justice Chad
3 PUrporting |
- States |
a
Ava SAMA DeokRNia—
a et
"PRINCE, Littleton, white hanged Monticello, AL, 1833
"To His Excellency, John Gayle, Governor of the State of Alabama:
The subscribers respectfully state to your Excellency that
Littleton Princeof Pike County was at the last Term of the Circuit
Court of said County convicted of the crime of Negro stealing. The
said conviction was obtained on circumstantial testimony and on
acknowledgements deposed to by the prosecuter who admitted in the
conversation with the prisoner something was said about a
compromise if the expences of the prosecuter could be paid . The
testimony was left to the jury and after being unable to give a
verdict for two days and nights, they at length when the court was
about to adjourn brought back in a verdict of Guilty & recommended
the prisoner to Mercy, considering the long imprisonment of the
prisoner and considering the severity of the punishment, do believe
with the jury who tried the case that he is a fit subject for
executive clemency & pardon & as such petition your excellency to
give him a pardon & as is duty bound we will ever pray to.
/s/ John Hollingshead, James T. White, William T. Franum, W. J.
Pearce, Arnold Kennington, (?) Eason, Martin McMahon, Jr.
Robert E. Kyle, William Oliver, John (?) Mahon, Allan C. Stillman,
W. H. Jones, James Baygents, J. P. McCullough, Benj. Collier, John
Barker, James G. Eaves, Thomas Aplin, William Browning, Lenard
Vann, James McSwaine, G. S. Loveless, William Knight, (?), James
(?), Solomon Johnston, John E. Brown, Johnson King, Lewis E. Brown,
N. L. Perry, Thomas Warren, Jessy Colomon, Jnr, (?) Cofee, Wm. P.
Johnson, (?) Lewis, Saml. Nall, Edward Williams, Wm. H. Kilpatrick,
Thomas W. Blakey, William Loveless, Henry J. Rouse, Edward Ellison,
Piedmont Bennett, (?) Hamm, Peter E. Efurd, Jno. Windham, Thos. H.
Windham, Samuel Tindol, Jno. Crabtree, Timothy Johnson, Ezekiel
Bright, Navell Bright, John Bright, Rubin Johnson, Zachariah
Johnson, Wm. Shiver, Jarot L. Shiver, Sterling W. Johnson, Willson
DeShazo, John S. (?), Wm. Feilder, Keith Patterson, Sam Montgomery,
James G. Coleman, Jesse B. Coleman, Jr., (?), John M. Edge, (?),
John Currie, John Vann, Conelus Hearn, J. J. Davius, Barry R.
Horton, Wm. Mooreman, Job Padget, Asa Kirkland, Joshua Kirkland,
Molton McMillan, PLeter Jackson, Snoden Kerkelin, Mather W. Little,
Emanuel Ford, Anderson (?), Asa Dean, Eben George, James Cadenhead,
Jesse Enge, Randal Jackson, John Beasley, William Brown, Thos W.,
(?), (?), (?), William Sale, Jnr, J. H. Lefever, Wm. Tate, Jun., H.
Edwin, (?), Jesse Evans, (?), (?), Wilson Edding, John McCrory,
Peter F. Coleman, Morris Hardman, John Sasser, John McDonald, John
Gilmore, James Gilmore, Eli Gilmore, Abraham Danner, Wm. F. Adams,
Jos. W. W. Cook, W. W. McMahon, D. Underwood, (?), (?)."
Note on cover:> "Petition in behalf of L. Prince for Pardon."
(Papers of Governor John Gayle, Alabama Department of Archives and
History, Montgomery, AL).
P= PRRIGES Taipei, whe, hanacertegtteelenthe RG” Axor. BB. oy Tare
; Al
AOU? eS, { LEA Ea iy vie ; Ay grag otal ’ a : a
/ ' ~, rs ry | { g : \ ail ae ; eS A], 1 AY
[Wes Lerger, (36h FELQ2I A Vek Ce Aealeric al S62 ae
ALL er ee
s Te
f 4. 5)
a VA AS, Alin (9 OP
having the memory of a long and well-spent life and the hope of
the Christian constantly to comfort him. He delights to have his
friends visit him and to talk to.them of the old times and recount
the adventures of his early days. His daughter, Mrs. Leck Barnhill,
with whom he resides, together with her husband and children, does
everything that human hands can do for the old man's comfort and
strives to make his last days his best days.
Hee He
MRS. MARTHA RAMSEY. Near Joiner's Bridge in this county the above-
named lady, who is now 86 years Old, resides. She is indeed a
pioneer, having come here from Burke County, Georgia, where she was
born and raised. Soon after she came here she was attending a
dance. She says she was hard to beat on the floor in those days
and met and became acquainted with Terrell Higdon who accompanied
her home and in about three weeks Martha Young became Mrs. Terrell
Higdon. Among the incidents that occurred before the Indian War,
of which she gives an account, was the hanging of young Prince.
He was charged,tried, and convieted in the circuit court of Pike
County of the crime of stealing a negro. The penalty was death
and the execution took place at Monticello and was the first
hanging that occurred in .the county. .Harrell Hobdy was the sheriff
and sprung the trap, a.very. unpleasant.duty. Prince was heavily
guarded at her house on the. night before. the execution and she
>, accompanied him to the gallows. He carried his Bible and to the
_iast asserted.his innocence saying that. he had no. fears for the
\ future. Mrs..Ramsey freely expresses her opinion that..he was an
innocent man.: He.told her and.others, among them Granny Love,
that he was a Methodist minister. The evidence upon which he was
convicted was that he was overtaken by pursuers on the road with
the negro in his possession; his statement being that he had over-
taken the negro while traveling and as they were going the same
way continued until overtaken.
In 183) Mr. Higdon died leaving her with five little ones to care
for, one of whom died at the age. of six months. Two years later
in the spring of 1836 she married Duncan Ramsey and settled upon
the farm where she now lives. Her memory of the incidents and the
parties engaged in them is.very clear and she delights in telling
them. She.knew Uchee Bi11 Davis who was shot in the mouth in the
battle above Hobdy's Bridge. For more than a year during the
Indian troubles she says that the people in the neighborhood were
constantly hurrying to a fort which had been built for protection
against the redskins. Of thig fort, visible signs yet remain. Her
husband, with his family, stayed at home and took their chances.
She has raised seven of her nine children, four of whom are
Ramsey's. Her home is now with her son, Mr. G. W. Ramsey, who is
51 years old and lives on the place where he was born and raised.
Her son, William Higdon, was one of the first if not the very
first, artist who took daguerrotypes for the people of Pike. She
states that Reverend J. F. Purser's mother was a sister of her
first husband.
She has been a good and true member of the Methodist Church for 37
years and it is said of her that she has not failed to let her
Christian light so shine that her memory will live long.
3
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"To his Excellency John Gayle, governor of the State of alabama
the subscribers respectfully state to you excellency that Littleton
Prince of Pike County was at the last term of the circuit court of
said county convicted of the crime of negro stealing. the sd
conviction was obtained on circumstantial testimony and on
acknowledgement deposed to by the prosecutor who admitted that in
the conversation with the prisoner something was said about a
complromise if the expences of prosecution could be paid. the
testimony was left to the jury and after being unable to agree on
a verdict for two days & a night they at length when the court was
about to adjourn brought in a verdict of guilty and recommended the
Prisoner to mercy considering the long imprisonment and considering
the severity of the punishmnent do believe with the jury who tried
the case that he is a fit subject for your executive clemency and
pardon & as such petition your excellency to grant him a pardon and
as in duty boundwe will forever plray etc
/s/ (?), John (?), John (?), Josiah Little, John Amons, George M.
Benson, (?), John Ludlum, John Richbourg, Thomas (?), Jnr, Geo. K.
Richbourg, Wm. H. Gibhart."
(Papers of Gov. John Gayle, Ala. Dept. of Arch. & His., Montgomery,
AL)
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PRINCE, Littleton Ala. 1833.
"The State of Alabama
Pike County
To his Excellency John Gayle, Governor of
the State of Alabama- The petition of the undersigned respectfully
sheweth unto your Excellency that Littleton Prince convicted at the
last term of the Circuit Court of this county for negro stealing
is a young man of respectable connections who have resided amongst
us for anumber of years, who have always been regarded in their
character and conduct above reproach. - That the prisoner
Littleton Prince has also resided amongst us for many years, and
although wild and dissipated hath never to our knowledge been
guilty of any positive crime with the exception of that for which
he stands convicted, and from the spirit of repentance and deep
contrition he has manifestged we are induced to believe that should
an opportunity be afforded him he might yet become a useful and
respectable member of society.
We would further also represent to your Excellency that he has
already suffered a punishment commensurate with the offence for
which he is guilty, having been in prison, heavily ironed, for the
(?) of (?) months. We would further represent to your Excellency
that the prisoner was convicted principally on his own confession
made to the prosecution under circumstances which tended to show
that some hints of a compromise were thrown out by the prosecution
to induce him to the confessions. Under all the circumstances, we
fully believeing not only that the prisoner Prince is a fit subject
but that this is a fitting opportunity for your Excellency to
exercise the prerogative of mercy granted by the constitution, and
thus rescue a guilty repentant and unfortunate individual from a
punishment which we must deem unadequate to the offence. We
therefore we unite with the jury who convicted in recommending him
to the clemency of your Excellency, and humbly petition that he may
be pardoned and by the act an opportunity of reformation be
afforded of which we are confident he will avail himself of, and
this your petitioners will ever pray, etc.
/s/ Philip Fitzpatrick, Jesse T. (?), Thos. Pugh, A. Fitzpatrick,
James Jackson, James Pugh, G. B. Augustus, John D. Curtis, Charles
Wheeler, Stephen Graves, Allen L. Nichols, A. Mills, James F.
Evans, Joseph Fitzpatrick, James White, (?) Miles, W. L. Evans,
Reuben Wilson, Charles Hodge, (?), Chas. L. (?), Philip Rodgers, C.
P. (?), (?) Cargill, Gilbert Daniel, John Welch, David White, (?),
James D. Love, John Stephens, (?) Morgan, James Cole, Ephraim
Parker, Thomas Williamson, Pleasant Williamson, Neal McNeale, (?)
Bennett, (?) Bennett."
. MU ihe J ee Prego
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PRINCE, Littleton, white, hanged Pike Co., ALA 1833
His Excellency Gabriel Moore Savannah lst June 1831
Governor Alabama
Sir
On yesterday evening I
committed to the common jail of this place Littleton Prince ona
charge of negro stealing in the County of Pike Alabama to await
your Excellency's demand on the Governor of this state, or until
he shall be discharged by the laws of this state - Should he
brought up under a writ of Habeas Corpus, our courts will allow
a reasonable time for you to make a demand on the Governor of
this State for his delivery -
I have directed Mr.
Robert Hobdy upon his return to Alabama to forward you the
necessary affidavits - Herewith you have enclosed a copy of
the proceedings in the case before me.
I Remain
Respectfully
Your obt, servant
/s/ Jacob Chadbourn
Justice of the Peace.
Cover address:
To His Excellency
Gabriel Moore
Governor Alabama
Tuscaloosa
Alabama
/s/ Jacob Chadbourn
ee |
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Louisvi } Pike Cty
To His Excellency Samuel B. Moore Greetin
where as the undersigned peti’ ioners shew
Littleton Prince of this County and Sta
Lawless outrage and has fleed from Justic
to the Ci9ty of Savannah Georyia by R. Ho
and there arrested the said Prince who wa
your order for delivery to the proper aut
wherefore we plray that your Fxcellency wi
ngements for having the fugitive brought
we further pray that your Excellency will
proper agent with the necessary instructi
the transportation of said fugitive to t
further that your Excellency will if wit
remit a sufficent some of the contingent
be to defray the further expences of said
and commitment of said Prince cost us $45
and we are bond with security for his pri
confer this agency we would prefer O. J. |
humble servants
S. B. Moore Hobdy & Willia
On cover:
Louisville Ala Free
June 20th O. J. Wil
To His Excellency S. B. Mo
Tuskaloosa Ala
Notation on covewr by Governor's Office:
"Relating to Hobdy's application for demar
Replyed to June 25th, 1831."
Hobdy
la June 20th 1831
on afadavit that
-e has commited a very
yet was pursued
dy one of our Firm
commited to awaite
oritys of this State
1 make the proper arra-
o Justice
make one of us your
n and authority for
is State and
in your power
und if any there
fugitive the arrest
in Savannah
on fees. Should you
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PRYOR, Walter, black, hanged Gadsden, Alabama, June 26, 191.
"(Special to The Advertiser.) Anniston, Alae, June 22. = Printed cards which
somewhat resemble a wedding invitation have been received by Sheriff C. T.
Brooks and Chief of Police Le Le Phillips, of this city, to attend a hanging
at Gadsden, Etowah County, on next Friday morning. Sheriff Lister is sending
out the invitationse' ADVERTISER, Montgomery, AL, June 23, 191) (8-5.)
"The Supreme Court yesterday affirmed the sentence of death imposed on ‘alter Pryor, a
negro, by the criminal division of the Gadsden City Court, Friday, June 26, was set as the
date for the execution of the negro, Pryor was convicted of killing George Quest,aa white
man. Quest was superintendent of the Alabama Power Company steam plant at Gadsden and
the murder is said to have been one of the most brutal ever committed in Etoway County."
ADVERTISER, Montgomery, Alabama, May 15, 191) (3:2.)
PUGH, Wilse, black, hanged at Wetumpka, Alabama, June 15, 1905,
"HANGING AT WETUMPKA = WILSE PUGH PAYS PENALTY FOR CRIME ON THE
GALLOWS, = Wetumpka, June 15. - Wilse Pugh was hanged today at 10:30
o'clock in an improvised enclosure connected with the jail. He
mounted the scaffold without a tremor and paid the penalty of his
crime with a steady nerve, The condemned man addressed those
prksent for a few moments, admonishing them to meet him in Heaven,
where he declared he would soon be, The crime for which Wilse Pugh
paid the extreme penalty of the law was committed last fall near
Jackson's Lake, where he shot to death his wife, whom he had not
seen for 2 years till a few minutes Before the shooting. He was
at work on the government works at Fort Pickens and made the trip
from Florida for the purpose of killing thw woman. At today's
execution, the father of the murdered wife wanted to pull the
trigger, but Sheriff Robbins would not permit such an acé
of vengeance to have the sanction of the law. Deputy Sheriff Jim
Robbins sprung the trigger. The negro'ts neck was not broken,
He died in 10 minutes fromstrangulation. No friend or relatives
claimed the dead man's body, and it was buried by Sheriff Robbins."
ADVERTISER, Montgomery, Alabama June 16, 1905 (8-l)
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