Clifford Carr
Clifford Dando Carr was born in Pennsylvania on December 19, 1893 to John M. and Elizabeth, “Lizzie” Carr. The Carrs came to Camden in the late 1890s, after the birth of daughter Edith in November of 1896. The 1900 Census shows the family living in Camden at 614 Ferry Avenue. Sadly, his father died on November 28, 1902, leaving his wife and children John M. Jr., Catherine “Katie,” William, Clifford, and Edith. By 1906 the family had moved to 697 Spring Street in Camden. By 1907 Katie Carr had married. Lizzie Carr, William, Clifford, and Edith moved in with her and her husband James Sprowl, and resided at 705 Spring Street from 1907 through 1909. The 1910 Census shows the Carrs and Sprowls at 429 South 3rd Street, where they had reunited with John M. Carr Jr.. By 1912 Clifford Carr had relocated to 443 Berkley Street. The 1915 City Directory shows him residing at 535 South 2nd Street.
On December 3, 1915 Clifford Carr married a widow, Catherine Larkin Morris at Wiley Methodist Episcopal Church at South 3rd and Beckett Streets in Camden. Her husband Thomas C. Morris had passed in 1913. By 1916 Clifford and Catherine Carr, who was 14 years his senior, and her two children from a previous marriage were living at 324 Evans Street. They stayed there into 1922, then moved to 712 Royden Street.
Clifford Carr was appointed to the Camden Police Department on July 1, 1928. He was promoted to Detective in relatively short time and served in that capacity into the 1950s.
The 1930 census shows that Clifford Carr and family were still at 712 Royden Street in South Camden. His wife Catherine was several years his senior and her two adult daughters lived with them, as did his brother, William Carr, a clerk for the Pennsylvania Railroad and a veteran of World War I, and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Mary Larkin.
By 1947 Clifford Carr had been promoted to Sergeant and was still serving with the Detective Bureau on Camden’s police force. He still lived at 712 Royden Street.
On April 3, 1954 a banquet was held at Kenney’s restaurant on Market Street in honor of retiring Camden Police Department detective August Pfleiderer. Joseph Mardino chaired the committee which put the banquet together. Other members of the committee include Clifford Carr, Harry Tracy, George Ellis, Nathaniel Jones, James Mulligan, Russell Maurer, Samuel E. Johnson, Edward C. Garrity, Frank H. Ryan, James M. O’Neill, Stephen M. O’Keefe, Edward J. Quinlan and Joseph Webster.
By the fall of 1956 Clifford Carr moved after 1947 542 South 8th Street. At some point in the 1960s he moved to 1210 North Octagon Road in the Fairview section of Camden, where he resided until his death. Clifford Carr died on September 15, 1967 and was buried at Calvary Cemetery. His wife had passed in 1948.
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- 'Forgotten' Holdup Recalled in Capture of Fifth as Bandit — Camden Courier-Post — October 16, 1931
- Stolen Garage Loot Found in Auto as 4 Men Are Nabbed — Camden Courier-Post — October 26, 1931
- Stores, Homes Looted; Radio, Pennies Taken — Camden Courier-Post — June 17, 1933
- Pancoast Proves 3.2 Beer Did Not Make Man Tipsy — Camden Courier-Post — June 19, 1933
- Boys Smash Desks In Camden School But Take Nothing — Camden Courier-Post — June 22, 1933
- Man Jailed 3 Months in Theft of Watch — Camden Courier-Post — June 25, 1933
- 2 Jailed for Begging Money from Autoists — Camden Courier-Post — June 25, 1933
- Illness Drives Merchant to Take His Life — Camden Courier-Post — August 11, 1933
- William Nece Dies at Wheel of His Car — Camden Courier-Post — August 11, 1933
- Nearby Customer Eats Ice Cream as Clerk Yields Cash — Camden Courier-Post — September 2, 1935
- Two Seized in Extortion Plot — Camden Courier-Post — October 29, 1935
- Father Finds Daughter Victim of Gas Fumes — Camden Courier-Post — February 29, 1936
- 'Joey' Powell Rearrested as County Opens Holdup Probe — Camden Courier-Post — March 17, 1936
- Wirtz Ordered to Face Inquiry by Mrs. Kobus — Camden Courier-Post — March 18, 1936
- Wirtz to Hear Fate in Bandit Quiz Today — Camden Courier-Post — March 19, 1936
- Woman Is Arrested in Slaying of Man — Camden Courier-Post — February 5, 1938
- Cop's Guest Beaten; Colsey Probes Row — Camden Courier-Post — February 22, 1938
- Seek Killer of Toll Collector — Gettysburg PA Times — July 18, 1938
- Auto Gunmen Fell Racetrack Figure — Charleston WV Daily Mail — August 27, 1944
- Tearful Scene at Detective Bureau — Iowa City IA Press Citizen — February 10, 1950
Camden Father Dies in Fight With His Son; Both Jobless
Camden Courier-Post —
Quarrel Over Youth Getting Work Is Blamed for Street Battle
ACCUSED WILL MAKE SELF-DEFENSE PLEA
Victim’s Head Hits Curb, Physicians Believe He Died Instantly
A quarrel over his son’s failure to obtain work ended fatally last night for the father of five children who was killed when he struck his head on a curb after the son had hit him on the jaw.
The father is Frederick Alanko Thompson, also known as Elanko, 45, of 805 Linden street. His son, Reino Alanko Thompson, who will be 18 in July, will be arraigned today on a charge of murder.
The fight occurred at the southeast corner of Ninth and Kimber streets.
The story of the alleged murder as told by the boy to Prosecutor Clifford A. Baldwin differed from that told by two young witnesses. The boy claimed self-defense while the witnesses said he had struck his father first.
Both Out of Work
Reino said he had been out of work for five months and his father had been unemployed for eight. The boy had worked for Todd Rooney, trucker, of Fern street near Eighth street.
Shortly before 7 p. m. last night, the boy said, his father criticised him for not obtaining work. To end the constant nagging of the father, his mother, Mrs. Rose Thompson, 45, gave her son a quarter and he left the house.
Reino was on his way to Tenth and Market streets to meet friends, he said, when his father followed him.
“He kept cursing me and when we got to Ninth and Kimber streets, my father struck at me. I sidestepped and hit him in the jaw. He fell to the curb and lay there. I shouted to him to get up if he wanted me to hit him again.”
When father failed to get up, Reino became frightened and ran home.
Francis Zoll, 15, of 912 Kimber street, and Herbert Townsend, 16, of 934 Linden street, who saw the fight, told the authorities the father made no effort to hit his son but that the boy hit him “six or seven times.”
Victim Dies Instantly
They notified Detective William Moll, who had the father taken to Cooper Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Coroner Melvin Cain will perform an autopsy today.
Detectives Clifford Carr and Anson Kelly went to the Thompson home where they found the boy hiding in a kitchen alcove. They told the mother that he was wanted for questioning about a fight with his father but did not reveal that the father had been killed until they reached police headquarters. The son himself did not know his blow had proved fatal until later.
Mrs. Thompson and her two older daughters, Rose, 16, and May, 14, accompanied Reino and the detectives to police headquarters. Two other twin daughters, Diamond and Irene, 10, remained at home.
The boy was questioned by Baldwin, Capt. John Golden, of the city detectives, and Maj. Charles V. Dickinson, deputy director of public safety.
The boy broke down when he was charged with murder and was led weeping to a cell. Mrs. Thompson, who had remained calm during the questioning, collapsed after her son was taken away.
Another son, Esel, 22, was arrested eight months ago by Detective Carr and turned over to immigration officials at Gloucester for deportation. He was said to have illegally entered this country from Finland six years ago. The other members of the family came to America some years before. The father was naturalized.
'Forgotten' Holdup Recalled in Capture of Fifth as Bandit
Camden Courier-Post —
Police last night cleaned up an old case of highway robbery that occurred at Second and Mt. Vernon Streets last August when Edward A. Turner, 48, of 1104 Cresson Street, was robbed of his watch, chain and knife.
At the time of the hold-up, Turner told police there were four or five colored men in the robbery. Detectives Robert Ward and Clifford Carr arrested Earl Bundy, 17, of 819 Sycamore Street, who they said had the articles in his possession; also Charles Wing, 17, of 1012 Francis Street; Sherman Smith, 17, of 161 Ivins Street and William Jackman, 16, of 152 Sycamore Street. The last three pleaded guilty and were sentenced to Rahway Reformatory by Judge Samuel Shay.
Bundy pleaded not guilty and was lodged in the local jail.
Last night Ward and Carr with Patrolman Luke captured Oscar Moore, 19, of 135 Mt. Vernon Street as the fifth bandit. He will be held without bail on the same charge as the others..
Grand Jury Finds Camden Boy Killed Drunken Father in Self Defense
Camden Courier-Post —
YOUTH INSTRUCTED TO ‘MEND HIS WAYS’ IN FUTURE CONDUCT
Reino Thompson Promises to Help Mother as He Leaves Prison
DEATH WAS ACCIDENTAL
Wins Freedom
REINO A. THOMPSON
Who was given his freedom yesterday by the April Grand Jury, who returned a “No Bill” on a murder charge lodged against the youth after he had struck and killed his father on April 9 in defense of his mother.
Seventeen-year-old Reino Alanko Thompson who on April 9 killed his father in defense of his mother and himself was freed yesterday by the April grand jury.
The youth was instructed by the jury never to take the law into his hands again and to mend his ways.
Following the action of the grand jury the youth rushed into the arms of his mother, who was waiting just outside the jury room door. While the tearful mother embraced him Reino promised her he would devote the balance of his life in an effort to make her happy.
The youth struck his father, Frederick, 45, of 805 Linden street, and the latter fell heavily and struck his head on a curbstone, dying from a fractured skull. Reino was formally charged with murder.
The new grand jury, meeting yesterday for the first time, had been instructed to safeguard the county’s youth by eliminating incentives of crime.
It had been freely predicted that a “no bill” would be returned. Such was done after the jurors heard six witnesses, including the youth, his mother, his sister, Rose; two eye-witnesses of the quarrel, Francis Zoll and Herbert Townsend, and City Detective Clifford Carr. Prosecutor Baldwin immediately ordered the youth’s release from the county jail.
“I’m glad it’s all over,” the youth told his friends. “I want to thank the prosecutor, the Grand Jury and the newspapers for all they’ve done for me. It was very kind of them. I am going to lead a good life and help my mother and the family. It was all an accident. I never thought that would happen. I’m sorry it did happen, for I didn’t mean it.”
“The boy told a straightforward story,” averred the prosecutor. “He stated that he struck his father in self defense after the parent berated him for being unable to obtain work. The argument started when the boy reprimanded his father for striking his mother. The death was an accident, and the boy struck without malice. The Grand Jury warned him to better himself and not to take the law in his own hands.”
A brother of the dead man, Frank Thompson, 186 Edison street, New Dorp, L. I., was at the courthouse, and congratulated the boy.
“I’m glad my nephew was liberated,” the brother stated, “for what happened couldn’t be helped. It doesn’t sound right for me to say this, but my brother had no human traits. Drink was the cause of it. My brother came here 16 years ago, and continually drank poison liquor.”
Stolen Garage Loot Found in Auto as 4 Men Are Nabbed
Camden Courier-Post —
Four Suspects Caught as Series of Weekend Robberies Keep Police Busy
Trio Held at Gloucester for Robbing Store at Westville Grove — Oil Stove Is Stolen
Loot valued at several hundred dollar was recovered and four men arrested over the weekend as many robberies were reported to police throughout South Jersey.
Three of the men arrested were captured in Gloucester when merchandise stolen from a Westville Grove store and garage was found in their automobile. The fourth man was arrested in Camden.
Those under arrest in Gloucester, are Joseph Rietseh, 47, of 1245 Palmer street; Joseph Dorman, 18, of 103 Chango street, and Charles Headley, 18, of 936 North Fourth street, all of Philadelphia.
The loot found in their car consisted of automobile tires, cigarettes, safety razors, tubes and other articles. It had been stolen from the store and garage of George A. Fields, Delsea Drive, Westville Grove.
The three men were arrested by Patrolmen Walter Lane and William Fowler. who stopped their car because it had but one headlight.
Taken back to Westville the three men were held without bail for the grand jury by Recorder Charles H. Benner.
Held For Theft
When he walked down Federal Street with an oil stove Armstead Saunders, 56, of 314 Taylor Avenue, was stopped by the police Saturday night.
An investigation revealed he had picked it up as he passed the second-hand store of W. L. Ernest, 408 Federal Street, according to Patrolmen Walter Patton and Raymond Stark.
Saunders will have a hearing today before Police Judge Pancoast, on a charge of larceny.
James Josephson, 3320 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, a salesman for the Household Institute of New York reported the loss of two cases of aluminum ware and an investigation was conducted by Detective Sylvester McGrath. Upon information he entered the apartment alleged to have been tenanted by John Harrigan, of 1289 Dayton Street and found the merchandise. Harrigan is said by the police to have left the apartment. The goods are valued at $150.
William H. McMakin, of 119 West Pine Street, Audubon, reported to Detective Robert Ward that he was held up at Pine Street near Fifth on Sunday morning by three young men. They relieved him of his watch, valued $35, and his drivers license. McMakin was unable to describe the culprits.
William Harris, 53, of 1731 Fillmore Street, told Detective Clifford Carr he was relieved of his wallet containing $6.90 by an unknown man at Haddon Avenue and Copewood Street, Sunday morning. He described the man as being about 27 years old and wearing a light cap.
Thieves entered the candy shop of Jones Wilson, Park Boulevard and Kaighn Avenue, Saturday night and took three cartons of cigarettes, some candy and soda valued at $23.
Hair Clipper Stolen
Waclaw Hermanolski, 1322 Mt. Ephraim Avenue, reported to police that someone entered his barbershop through a rear window and stole an electric hair clipper, massage vibrator and $15.
A grocery store operated by Joseph S. Eskowitz, of 1022 Broadway, was entered early yesterday and the thieves took three dozen cans of malt syrup valued at $12. Detective Benjamin Simon discovered the burglar gained his entrance by cutting a pane of glass out of the back window.
Louis E. Barnes, 21, colored, employed by the police department to catch a colored man who has been reported preying on unemployed and collecting money from them in promise of a job, has informed police that such a man got away from him on October 24. He is known to the police and will be picked up, they said.
Barnes said the man being sought told him to give him $2.50 for a white coat and he would get him a job in the kitchen of the Cooper Hospital. When Barnes returned with the money the man had disappeared..
Stores, Homes Looted; Radio, Pennies Taken
Camden Courier-Post —
Burglars who broke into two stores and a private home Thursday night got exactly $2.50, a radio, and some cigars for their trouble.
At the store of Basile Constantine, 402 Berkley Street, cigars valued at $1.50 were stolen by the intruders, who forced a rear shutter. Michael Kelly, of 11 South Fourth Street, reported his store was broken Into and $2.50 in pennies stolen. Entrance was gained through a rear window. James Hayes, of 1287 Decatur Street, told the police his radio set was stolen by the thieves after they entered his house through a rear window.
Detectives Clarence Arthur and Clifford Carr are investigating..
Pancoast Proves 3.2 Beer Did Not Make Man Tipsy
Camden Courier-Post —
Police Judge Pancoast is firmly convinced that 3.2 beer is not intoxicating. He emphatically expressed himself so to George Shuts, 34, of 410 Birch Street, Saturday when Shuts, who was charged with drunkenness, said he had been drinking beer. Detective Clifford Carr said he found the man “down and out.”
“You never got in the condition in which you were found by drinking 3.2 beer,” the court said. “Right now in New York there is a drinking contest being waged in which the contestants have been drinking a bottle of beer every 15 minutes for the past two weeks and they are not drunk yet.”
Shuts then admitted that he had “a few liquors” on top of the beer.
“I thought so,” Judge Pancoast said. “The man who be comes intoxicated on the new beer is either very weak physically or very imaginative mentally.”
He suspended sentence on Shuts with the admonition to “stick to the 3.2.”
Boys Smash Desks In Camden School But Take Nothing
Camden Courier-Post —
Suspects Believed to Have Resented Teachers Refusing Promotion
Hiding in the H. B. Wilson School, Ninth and Florence streets, until a Parent-Teacher Association meeting was over and the school locked for the night, several boys turned vandals by forcing open desk drawers, breaking the glass in book cases, marring desks and strewing papers about. A check-up revealed nothing was stolen.
Lawrence Miller, of 814 Florence street, janitor, reported the incident to police yesterday. Detective Clifford Carr after an inspection of the school obtained finger prints from several papers and turned them over to Detective Edwin Mills for duplication. The prints will be compared, Carr said, with the names of suspects taken by him following a conference with teachers. The names included those of boys’ who had failed to gain promotion or who were troublesome to teachers in the school. The Parent-Teacher Association meeting was closed at 10.30 p. m. Tuesday night. With no windows or doors forced in the school, Detective Carr was confident the boys gained admittance by secreting themselves about the school during the meeting.
Man Jailed 3 Months in Theft of Watch
Camden Courier-Post —
Charged with the larceny of a watch belonging to Albert L. Hawkins, of Collingswood; John H. Evans, 64, of 2117 Sherman Avenue, was sentenced to three months in jail Saturday by Police Judge Garfield Pancoast.
Hawkins, who is a painter, said he was at work Thursday on the second floor of a vacant house at 805 Cooper Street, when he saw a man come in and take the watch from his trousers, which he had left downstairs.
Hawkins recognized Evans’ picture in the rogues gallery and police arrested the man. Detective Clifford Carr testified Evans has been arrested a number of times on larceny charges.
2 Jailed for Begging Money from Autoists
Camden Courier-Post —
Charged with being drunk and disorderly, James Kelly, 34, of 324 Penn Street, and Charles Murphy, 59, of 423 Stevens Street, were each sentenced to 60 days in jail Saturday by Police Judge Garfield Pancoast.
They were arrested at Eleventh and Linden streets yesterday on complaint of motorists who said the men would wait until a red light flashed and then walk into the street and ask for money.
Illness Drives Merchant to Take His Life
Camden Courier-Post —
Daughter Finds Him Dead Over Gas Range at Home
Despondent over a prolonged illness, Isaac Greenstein, 50, of 411 Broadway, proprietor of a men’s clothing store at that address, committed suicide last night by inhaling gas.
Greenstein was found slumped over a gas range in the kitchen of his home when his daughter Rose, 18, returned home at 6:30 p. m. All jets were open.
The girl rushed out and notified neighbors, who apprised police. Greenstein was taken to Cooper Hospital in the Second police district patrol.
Greenstein, whose wife Sophia was in Atlantic City, left two notes, one addressed to his family, asking their forgiveness and the other asking that a brother, A. Greenstein of 949 North Franklin Street, be notified. The notes were found on a table by Detective Clifford Carr, who declared Greenstein has suffered from a stomach disorder for years.
The note addressed to his family follows:
Do not blame anybody for my deed. My terrible suffering compelled me to make an end to my unbearable life. Goodbye, my dear, good, faithful and affectionate wife. Goodbye, my dear and unfortunate children. Fate has been very ugly and cruel to me. The only thing left for me to do is get rid of my suffering. Please, good people, be good to my unfortunate family.
William Nece Dies at Wheel of His Car
Camden Courier-Post —
William B. Nece, 50, of 30 Strawbridge avenue, Westmont, was found dead last night at the wheel of his automobile, parked near Fourth and Penn Streets.
Death was attributed to a heart attack by Coroner Benjamin R. Denny, who will perform a post-mortem at Cooper Hospital today.
Nece was the proprietor of the Camden Elbow Company, roofing supply house at 420 South Fifth street. He is married and is survived by his widow, Mrs. Lotta Nece.
Detective Clifford Carr said Nece has been taking treatments lately at the offices of Dr. C. B. Scheffer for a heart condition.
4 Masked Bandits Flee Without Loot at Terminal Here
Camden Courier-Post —
Police Say Gunmen Had ‘Inside Information’ Before Staging ‘Job’
WAITED FOR DARKNESS
Two slender clues were all police had unearthed last night in a search for four armed and masked bandits who tried to rob the baggage room of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Market street terminal early yesterday.
The attempt was timed perfectly to coincide with the plunging of the terminal into darkness incidental to connecting a new high tension light and power system.
The cut-out of the old system and the cut-in of the new had been set for 4.30 a. m. yesterday and police believe the holdup men had inside information of the “zero hour.”
An abandoned stolen car and a bag of bullets were the two clues found by police. Both resulted from the work of summertime additions to the police force.
Sought Valuable Baggage
Police believe the bandits sought a valuable package or consignment in the baggage room.
The automobile believed to have been used by the bandits was found abandoned in South Camden, and a small leather bag filled with steel-jacketed bullets was found several blocks from the ferry building.
Three of the bandits commanded Charles Stevenson, 65, of 334 Kings highway East, Haddonfield, a baggage room operator, to put up his hands. A fourth sat outside in an automobile with its motor running.
Using pocket flashlights, the bandits started to search the baggage room for reputed valuable articles reported to be among the baggage, but were frightened away before they could obtain any loot.
The three men fled, Stevenson told Detectives Clifford Carr and John Kaighn, when they heard the footsteps of approaching railroad employes.
Varied Versions of Flight
Two versions of the disappearance of the armed men were given. One report to the police said the bandits jumped into the waiting automobile and were driven away hurriedly. Another report said the driver of the car, standing near the entrance to the ferry and facing the river, backed the car away from the curb, turned sharply to the right and sped out the Market street driveway, leaving his three companions to flee through the ferry sheds to the railroad tracks, and from there to the street.
The flight of the driver, according to one report to police, was caused by the arrival of police and detectives sent to the scene by a general police alarm.
Employes of the Railway Express Agency, near the baggage room, saw the armed men and called the police. As the driver sped away, it was reported, he gave a signal that resulted in his three companions making their dash through the sheds to avoid capture by the police.
The abandoned automobile was found about two hours later at Ferry avenue and Charles street by Alonzo Jordan, a new Summertime policeman. The automobile, abandoned after being stripped, had been stolen from Seventh and Morgan streets, at 2:15 a. m., according to the police.
The car is the property of Warren Keen, 102 North Broadway, Pitman, [cut off at the crop edge]
Feitz Witness Dies in 5-Floor City Hall Jump
Camden Evening Courier —
Should Have Been Kept in Cell, Stewart and Orlando Say
WOMAN TRIED IN VAIN TO TALK WITH WARD
Colsey Will Conduct Investigation in Attempt to Fix Blame
A complete investigation was ordered today by Mayor Roy R. Stewart into the suicide yesterday of Mrs. Emma Heisler, 38, who plunged five floors from a detective bureau window in city hall.
Mrs. Heisler was the key witness to the murder early Sunday of Detective William T. Feitz. It was in Mrs. Heisler’s alleged disorderly house at 243 Sycamore street that Feitz was killed.
Mayor Stewart, ordering the investigation, freely admitted today that Mrs. Heisler should have been locked in a city hall jail cell instead of being permitted to roam about detective headquarters.
Colsey to Conduct Probe
Mayor Stewart delegated Police Chief Arthur Colsey to conduct the probe and determine whether there is evidence of police laxity in the suicide of Mrs. Heisler.
From two sources since the woman was taken into custody were the police warned against permitting her to walk unguarded in city hall. The warnings were ignored.
Only yesterday, a short time before the woman leaped to her death, a Courier-Post reporter made the comment in detective headquarters:
“You’d better watch that woman, or she’s liable to jump from a window and sprain her ankle.”
A similar warning that Mrs. Heisler should be locked in a cell was delivered by Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando.
Less than an hour before she took her death leap, Mrs. Heisler had pleaded with Lieutenant Ward to let her talk to him.
“I’ve got something in my heart I must let out,” she told Ward, interrupting him as he gave a last-minute telephone report of the murder probe to Mayor Stewart. The mayor was about to catch a 4.20 p. m. train to his Ocean City summer home.
Three times, Ward said, she tried to drag him from the telephone as he talked to Stewart, each time insisting she had something to tell him.
Ward Refused to Listen
Ward concluded the conversation with Stewart and then left the bureau instead of talking to her.
At 5.12 p. m. Mrs. Heisler rushed from the detectives’ room into Ward’s private office, raised the only window not guarded by a glass ventilator and leaped to her death.
Whatever she had in her heart was still there.
She never regained consciousness fully and died at 6.12 p. m. in Cooper Hospital.
With her, police believe, went their best chance of learning the identity of Feitz’s slayers.
After Ward brusquely rebuffed the woman as she attempted to tell him something that he, by his own admission, believes might have been the identity of the killers, she went back into the desk room where all detectives sit when idle.
A Courier-Post reporter was outside the counter separating the detectives’ office space from that area reserved for the public—barred from the inner sanctum by Ward’s orders.
The reporter said the woman was disheveled in appearance, her blonde hair straggling about her face, her eyes showing that she was under a severe emotional strain.
Detectives Laugh
“You’d better watch that woman,” he told Detective Robert Ashenfelder. “She’s liable to jump from a window and sprain her ankle.”
The detectives laughed.
A few minutes later she sat at a desk near the entrance to Ward’s
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private office, in the corner of the bureau.
“She was about to break. I think she was ready to tell us who killed Feitz,” Detective Sergeant Gus Koerner said afterward.
After Ward refused to let her unburden herself—possibly of information the entire department has been seeking night and day since Feitz’s death—she appeared highly agitated.
The woman leaped from her desk and rushed into Ward’s private office.
Body Broken Badly
She raised the only window not guarded by a ventilator and leaped. She landed on the iron windshield bar of a roadster, and the force of her fall almost cut her body in half. She bounced into the seat of the car owned by Andrew Stewart, 143 West Cottage avenue, Haddonfield.
Detectives Clifford Carr and Robert Ashenfelter were the only members of the force in the bureau. Carr was answering a telephone. Ashenfelter was questioning Camillo Cinelli, 848 South Third street, a former pugilist known as Billy Hart, about some matter not connected with the murder.
“We were standing almost at the door of Ward’s office,” Ashenfelter said. “Cinelli wanted a drink of water and I followed him to the water bottle, away from the door. We drank and started back.
“Cinelli was in front of me and I could not see the woman. All of a sudden we heard the sound of tinkling glass. Cinelli ran into Ward’s office. I followed him. The woman was gone. We looked out the window and saw her in a roadster with the top down.
Takes Her to Hospital
“I went downstairs in the private elevator, loaded the woman into a car and went with her to Cooper Hospital. Carr went downstairs with me, but he had to return to the office.”
Carr said he was answering a telephone when he heard the sound of glass, looked about for the woman and saw she was gone. Then he too rushed to Ward’s window and looked out to see her in the car below.
The woman’s skull was crushed. Her fall bent the metal bar of the windshield almost to the dash and shattered the glass—to give notice of her death to her previous captors upstairs.
At the hospital, Dr. Roscoe Kandle examined the woman and shook his head, then ordered her removed to a ward cot. She was in a semi-comatose state.
Carpani and Lieutenant Ward, who had rushed to the hospital for his delayed reception of her story, found her unable to tell what was in her heart.
Her brothers, Albert and William Slonski of 1300 South Broad street, Philadelphia, arrived before she died.
Father James Foley, pastor of Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, administered extreme unction to the woman. He happened to be in the hospital, asked if she were a Catholic, and gave her the last rites of her faith for the living.
Neither Mayor Stewart nor Chief of Police Colsey would criticize any member of the detective force for the woman’s leap, but Prosecutor Orlando was outspoken in his belief that police laxity, in spite of a warning from him, had caused her death and had removed the state’s chief witness against Feitz’s slayers, “if they are caught.”
Orlando Warned Mayor
“At 2 p. m. today,” Orlando said. “I told Mayor Stewart that woman ought to be locked in a cell and held on the charge of maintaining a disorderly house.
“It is a regrettable thing that she was permitted to commit suicide. It may prove costly in the prosecution of Feitz’s slayers, if they are caught.
“I am not having much to do with the investigation. I am hoping the police will bring it to the point where I can prepare to prosecute.”
“I will not criticize any member of the force for Mrs. Heisler’s leap,” Chief Colsey said. “We had agreed to allow Ward to have his way. He felt, and convinced us, that we could get more from her by treating her kindly.
‘She Appeared Contented’
“As a matter of fact, she appeared contented. When Mayor Stewart and I questioned her earlier in the afternoon, she appeared in better condition than at any time since she was brought here.
“If she had wanted to leap from a window, she had had ample opportunities. She could have leaped while the mayor and I were questioning her, for that matter. We did not suspect she would attempt her life.
“She anwered [sic] questions better—more straightforwardly—for Mayor Stewart and me than at any time before.
“I believe she knew who killed Feitz. She said she didn’t. I think she would have told us tonight who killed him. She was beginning to open up.”
Ward, silent since Monday morning, said virtually the same thing, although he insisted he was “not talking anyway.”
Ward Calls It Fear
“She was about ready to tell what she knew,” the chief of detectives said. “It probably was fear that had kept her from it before. She feared she would be killed if she did tell. I think she knew who killed Feitz.
“She came to me three times while I was talking to Mayor Stewart on the phone and I had to put my hand over the phone to send her out,” Ward confessed. “She kept saying she had something to tell me. I think she was ready to tell it all.
“I had to leave the office after talking to the mayor,” Ward continued. “I didn’t get to question her further. I wasn’t here when she jumped. I’m not talking, anyway,” Ward said.
It was Mayor Stewart who revealed that the woman told Ward “I’ve got something in my heart and I must let it out.”
This, the mayor said, Ward told him on the telephone, interrupting the conversation to hear that much and then leaving the bureau before hearing what it was.
Disagrees With Colsey
Mayor Stewart’s opinion of the woman’s nervous condition was the reverse of Chief Colsey’s, however. He said:
“The death of the Heisler woman is very unfortunate. But we believe it will not retard our investigation into Feitz’s murder. We are hopeful that there are others who know just as much as Mrs. Heisler knew.
“I noticed this afternoon as Chief Colsey and I questioned her that she was in a very nervous condition. Several times she became flustered and appeared bewildered when attempting to answer questions.
“Her mind at times seemed to become a total blank.”
‘Ward’s Idea’
Asked why the woman had not been booked and locked in a cell, Mayor Stewart said:
“This angle had been gone over very carefully several times and it was Ward’s idea that Mrs. Heisler be given freedom of the bureau and treated with kindness, with the hope that she would reveal valuable information.
“I am sorry now I did not insist that she be placed in a cell.
“In the future, definite steps will be taken to prevent like happening.”
Asked whether any disciplinary action would be taken against members of the detective bureau as punishment for laxity in watching the woman, the mayor said:
“No. There will be no such action. I acquiesced in Ward’s desire to allow the woman freedom, trusting his judgment that this course might reduce the best results.”
Voluntary Prisoner
Mrs. Heisler was allowed many privileges during her detention. She was held as a voluntary prisoner, Chief Colsey said, adding:
“But if she had wanted to leave, we would have booked her and put her in a cell.”
He admitted the woman was held—though technically not held—in excess of the 48 hours police are permitted to hold a prisoner without filing charges.
“You can hold them as long as necessary in a murder case,” Colsey said.
Rests in Comfort
For two days the Courier-Post Newspapers had been printing pointed stories to the effect that Mrs. Heisler was allowed free run of detective headquarters, being treated as a guest while all others linked in any way with the murder were locked up in cells.
She was not even sent to a cell to sleep. Detectives converted a bench in the line-up room, which opens onto their quarters, into a bed, using blankets, overcoats and other pieces of clothing and bedding, impounded as stolen, to make her comfortable.
Detectives Served Her
An unidentified friend was permitted to bring her $10 in cash. She was allowed to smoke at will, to eat when and what she desired, and to have coffee brought to her by detectives at any and all hours.
That the Heisler woman had operated disorderly houses for six or seven years in Camden was generally known, although police would not admit the knowledge.
She ran a place at Sixth and Spruce streets for a time; then operated another house at Third and Mechanic street, a third at Ninth and Pine streets, and still another at Second and Chestnut streets. Then she ran a house at 242 Sycamore street, moved away, and then opened a new place at 243 Sycamore street, where Feitz was killed. This place had been in operation about seven months.
Sergeant Koerner said the woman had shown every indication that she was on the point of “breaking.”
‘Bad Break’ for Police
“She would walk up to me and other men as though she wanted to tell us something. Then she would turn and walk away. She was getting ready to tell everything, I believe. It is a bad break that she is dead.
“I think she knew who killed Feitz. The men had been there before. They had asked for her by name at the door, and she had admitted them. She is bound to have known them.
“She was ready to tell who they were, I believe, but every time she got to the point of telling, something would come up in her throat. I think it was fear.”
Chief Colsey continued to drive all members of the force night and day on the investigation, determined, he said, to clean it up as soon as possible.
Woman Planned Suicide Monday, City Hall Rumor
Camden Evening Courier —
Rumors persisted today around the city hall that Mrs. Emma Heisler, 38, who committed suicide yesterday by leaping five floors from detective headquarters, planned Monday to end her life.
Reporters at the “hall” recalled today that they were present when Detective Clifford Carr took Mrs. Heisler into detective headquarters Monday. The woman looked distraught and glanced around her nervously.
She mumbled something to Carr, whereupon the detective was heard to answer.
“Well, this is the fifth floor, the top of the city hall and as high as it goes.”
“Please take me back now,” the woman was heard to say.
Although Lieut. George Ward and Police Chief Arthur Colsey denied Mrs. Heisler previously spoke of suicide, it is believed her mumbled conversation with Carr was to that effect.
Nearby Customer Eats Ice Cream as Clerk Yields Cash
Camden Courier-Post —
Youthful Bandit Stages Quiet Holdup at Broadway Drug Store; Gets $50
Victim Reports Robber Draws Object like Pistol, Demands Money — Disappears Quickly
The Nevins Drug Company, 1124 Broadway was robbed of $50 Saturday by a youthful bandit who forced a clerk to hand over the contents of the register while a customer unsuspectingly sat in a booth a few feet away.
Edward Malikoff, 19, of 58240 Malvern Street, Philadelphia, an employee, told police a “customer” approached the drug counter shortly tar 8.30 p. m. A patron was eating ice cream in a nearby booth, Malikoff said.
The Intruder, Malikoff told police, whipped an object which “looked like a pistol” from his pocket, pointed it at him, and ordered him to band over the money in the cash drawer.
Malikoff said he obeyed. The bandit then swiftly walked away, and disappeared In the Saturday night crowd of shoppers. Be was gone, according to the clerk, before an outcry could be raised.
The bandit was described to police as 5 feet 9 inches tall, about 23, with dark curly hair. He was hatless and was dressed in a. brown suit.
Detectives Clifford Carr and Delaware Palmer are investigating.
Two Seized in Extortion Plot
Camden Courier-Post —
Jobless Man, Girl Quizzed in Attempt to Obtain $5,000
Painter Nabbed as He Keeps Date to Meet Intended Victim, G-Men Say — Case Linked to Holdup of Bank in Pennsgrove
By Walter N. Carley
An unemployed Camden painter and his reputed sweetheart were taken in custody early today for questioning in the attempted extortion of a Carneys Point store keeper. The couple, according to Department of Justice agents and state police, had demanded $5000 from the intended victim under threat of death.
Held for questioning are Vincent Farao, 41, of 208 Stevens Street, and Miss May Collins, 23, of 235 Stevens Street.
The intended victim, according to police, was Anthony Travagline, 39, owner of a Carneys Point store, and operator of a food concession at the duPont de Nemours plant in Pennsgrove.
Farao, it was disclosed, was arrested by State Trooper T. L. Smith, when he kept an appointment at 11 p. m., to meet Travagline at the foot of Pine street and claim the money demanded. The woman was arrested a block away.
Concealed at a number of points bordering on the rendezvous were Department of Justice agents, with T. J. Donahue, of the Trenton office, in charge, together with Sergeant of State Police Detectives Louis J. Bornemann, and Camden City Detective Clifford Carr.
Bank Holdup Mentioned
Farao and the Collins woman were rushed to police headquarters, where the Federal agents and state police immediately began questioning them.
Travagline, it was said, received a letter October 19, in which the writer demanded $5000 under threat of death and in which the writer said he knew the Carneys Point man received $15,000 of the loot taken in the Pennsgrove bank holdup in February, 1934.
A second letter was received Oct. 25, giving instructions for the payment of the money demanded. It was said both letters were written by the Collins woman.
Travagline, it was said, was to meet the writer at the foot of Pine street at 11 o’clock last night. He was to have a handkerchief tied around his left wrist. The writer of the letter would have a handkerchief similarly tied.
Travagline turned the letters over to state police, who in turn, called in the Federal agents. The storekeeper was advised to meet the writer in the hope he could be apprehended.
A dummy package, supposed to contain the money, was prepared and Travagline, accompanied by the agents, state troopers and detectives, went to the designated meeting place about 10 o’clock. Travagline, it was said, feared to go through with the plans made and Trooper Smith was substituted in his place.
A few minutes after 11 o’clock, as Smith stood near the river bank, a man approached him, later identified as Farao.
Cops Disarm Man
“You wanted to see me?” the trooper asked.
“You ain’t Travagline,” Smith said Farao replied.
The trooper lunged at Farao, he said, and as he did so, Farao attempted to draw a gun. Smith overpowered him, however, as the federal agents and detectives swarmed out of their various hiding places.
Other agents, in the meantime, had found the Collins woman standing at an intersection about a block away.
Arriving at police headquarters, the agents refused to permit newspapermen to question either themselves or the two suspects as well as forbidding Travagline to talk. The storekeeper was taken to an Inner office, outside of which an agent stood guard.
It could not be determined immediately what formal charges were to be placed against Farao or the woman.
It was learned that Farao was employed in the paint shop of a Camden shipbuilding concern but that he had not worked the last five years. Most of that time, it was said, he had been receiving emergency relief aid.
Police said Farao was married and has two children.
Man Held in Robbery of Mrs. Shane as Cops Plan 2 More Arrests
Camden Courier-Post —
Police Character Jailed Without Bail; Another Questioned
JOHNSON SEES SOLUTION NEAR
Asserts Witnesses Link Suspect To Crime
Jailed and Quizzed in Holdup
Stanley Powell, 28, of 1256 Whitman avenue, right, who was jailed without bail last night on suspicion of holdup and robbery in connection with the $10,380.50 robbery of Mrs. Mary Shane, and Frank Gromacki, 28, of 412 Broadway, left, who is being questioned by detectives investigating the case.
Stanley Powell, 28, Camden police character, was jailed without bail last night in connection with the $10,380.50 robbery of Mrs. Mary Shane, wife of a Camden State motor vehicle agent.
Powell is charged with “suspicion of holdup and robbery.”
Meantime police were questioning Frank Gromacki, 28, of 412 Broadway, in connection with the same case.
Arrest of two others was predicted as Harry Gassel, 27, of 1282 Liberty street, owner of the car allegedly stolen and used in the holdup, still was being detained at headquarters.
Lieut. Samuel E. Johnson, in charge of the detective bureau, predicted police would solve the holdup before morning, or less than 48 hours after it occurred.
“Powell has been linked definitely to this job by witnesses,” he said.
Mrs. Shane was robbed early Thursday morning while en route to the American National Bank on Broadway, near Kaighn avenue, to deposit funds taken in by her husband, Samuel, at 1289 Kaighn avenue, she told police.
Bandit Flees in Auto
A man snatched the money, representing December 31 license fees from Mrs. Shane as she carried it across Broadway in an ordinary shopping bag near the bank. The thief escaped in an automobile with three accomplices. First break in the case came when the car believed abandoned by the bandits was found late Thursday night in West Collingswood Heights. A West Collingswood Heights woman, after reading the abandoned car had been used by the bandits, in the Morning Post appeared at police headquarters and declared she believed she could identify one of the men.
Detectives refused to divulge the woman’s name but said she was convinced the man had waited on her when she patronized a Kaighn avenue store.
Gromacki was taken into custody at Broadway and Kaighn avenue, a few feet from the scene of the holdup, by several Camden detectives and two motor vehicle inspectors.
Powell was arrested by Detectives Clifford Carr and Heber McCord as he was preparing to eat a meal in a restaurant on Market street near Second.
Both were taken to detective headquarters, where Powell calmly denied any implication in the holdup. He was removed to police headquarters, and after being “booked” was placed in a cell. Commissioner Mary W. Kobus was present during the grilling of Powell.
The State Motor Vehicle Department ordered the closing of the agency operated by Mrs. Shane’s husband. The order closing Shane’s office pending an investigation came from Acting Motor Vehicle Commissioner Arthur W. Magee.
“All agents were recently ordered to carry holdup insurance,” Magee said, “and since Shane reported he had none, this was in direct violation of the rules of the department.”
The number of the bandit car, which crashed into a truck while making a getaway, was obtained and the vehicle was reported stolen shortly after the holdup, police said.
Shortly before midnight Thursday detectives received a call from Fred Cannady, New Jersey and Washington avenues, West Collingswood Heights that the car probably used in the holdup had been found abandoned at Pennsylvania and Washington avenues. Cannady said he saw a man leave the car at 11 a. m.
Detective Clifford Carr made a preliminary investigation and declared all the glass in the windows and windshield was unbroken. Acting Sergt. Joseph Carpani ordered the car impounded at Lane’s garage, Haddon avenue and Line street, where it was investigated for fingerprints.
Carr reported the finding of a shopping bag, believed to be the one carried by Mrs. Shane at the time of the holdup, and a roll of adhesive tape in the car.
Following the holdup Mrs. Shane was taken to police headquarters and questioned for more than 11 hours. She was taken to her home at 11 p. m. by state motor vehicle inspectors, who talked to her there until 1 a. m. Previously, at police headquarters, she was shown numerous rogue’s gallery pictures and partially identified one of them as the suspect who stole her bag.
Father Finds Daughter Victim of Gas Fumes
Camden Courier-Post —
Miss Viola Kester, 32, was found dead by her father in the bathroom of her home at 1214 North Thirty-third Street at 11:30 a. m. yesterday. Illuminating gas was flowing from a hose. Cracks around the door had been stuffed with paper. Police described the case as one of suicide.
The woman’s father, William, 55, told Acting Detective Sergeant Joseph Carpani, Detective Clifford Carr and Coroner Charles G. Jackson that his daughter had been brooding over the death of her mother, last July, and also the death of an aunt, in October.
The father, who is unemployed, told police that when he left the house his daughter was apparently all right.
'Joey' Powell Rearrested as County Opens Holdup Probe
Camden Courier-Post —
Orlando Acts as City Cops Free Former Boxer in Payroll Plot
Frameup Charged by Another Suspect
Prisoner Says Ex-Fighter Got Him in on Theft, Tipped Police
Joseph “Joey” Powell, former boxer who was arrested by city police in connection with a South Camden holdup and subsequently released, was rearrested by county detectives last night.
Powell was taken into custody on orders of Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando, who also ordered the arrest of a second suspect.
Camden police turned the case over to the prosecutor’s office after the arraignment of Walter Lewandowski, who was caught in a police trap Friday night as he allegedly attempted to steal an $800 payroll at the Eavenson & Levering Company’s plant at Fourth Street and Ferry Avenue. He formerly was employed there.
Two Others Implicated
Lewandowski implicated Powell, 25, of 46 Woodland Avenue, and Leonard Rogalski, 20, of 1219 South Tenth Street, in a plot to steal the payroll, according to Police Chief Arthur Colsey.
Powell thereupon was taken into custody and questioned, then, according to Colsey, he was released temporarily, in his own recognizance, pending further investigation. Rogalski was not arrested until County Detectives James Wren and Casimir Wojtkowiak took him in last night. The same detectives arrested Powell. Both suspects were charged with attempted holdup and robbery and committed to the county jail.
Lewandoski, 24, of 924 Atlantic Avenue, also in county jail, committed without bail by Police Judge Lewis Liberman Saturday.
According to Chief Colsey, Lewandowski made a statement in which he accused Powell of plotting the holdup and making him the “goat.”
“The holdup was Powell’s idea,” Colsey quoted Lewandowski as saying. “He got me in on it, and Rogalski was supposed to take part, too. Rogalski got “cold feet” though, and Powell sent me in while he was supposed to watch outside.”
“Instead he beat it because he had tipped off the police that the place was going to be held up.”
Released After Quiz
On the strength of Lewandowski’s statement, patrolman Edward Suski was sent to arrest Powell. After questioning, however, the former pugilist was released.
“We found no evidence against Powell,” Colsey explained. “Lewandowski’s story looked like an attempt to get himself off easier.
“We turned the case over to the prosecutor’s office, as we always do after making an arrest that seems to clear up the case.”
Lewandowski was captured by Sergeant Gus Koerner and City Detective Clifford Carr. The detectives were tipped off that the factory office was to be held up and laid in wait for the man.
When Lewandowski showed up, Carr and Koerner pointed revolvers at him. He fled down a stairway and Carr fell on him. The two grappled and the detective says the man pointed a .32 caliber pistol at him. Carr overpowered him with blow on the head with the butt of his revolver.
Wirtz Ordered to Face Inquiry by Mrs. Kobus
Camden Courier-Post —
Carr and Koerner Will Be Questioned In Holdup Case
Caution Is Urged by Justice Lloyd
Detective Stanley Wirtz, suspended by Police Chief Arthur Colsey yesterday pending investigation into charges that he supplied the guns and an automobile for a holdup, has been ordered to appear today before Commissioner Mary W. Kobus, director of public safety.
Wirtz, who has been in charge of the city accident bureau, will be asked to “give his side of the story,” Commissioner Kobus said.
Later the public safety head will question City Detective Clifford Carr and Police Sergeant Gus Koerner in connection with the capture of an alleged, bandit last Friday night, in an attempted holdup of the Eavenson & Levering Company payroll clerk.
Doran Accuses Wirtz
County Detective Chief Lawrence T. Doran yesterday charged that Wirtz had supplied the guns and automobile to be used in the holdup and then posted Carr and Koerner inside the plant to capture the bandits.
Wirtz, Doran said, admitted the charges in a statement given in the office of Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando.
No motive for the detective’s action were revealed by Doran.
Following the questioning of Wirtz and Sergeant Koerner at the prosecutor’s office, both men visited the office of Justice Frank T. Lloyd late yesterday.
Justice Lloyd said later he had conferred with Commissioner Kobus in regard to the case.
“I advised the commissioner,” Justice Lloyd said, “to go cautiously with the investigation and gather the facts before taking any action. It is a common thing for officers to lay traps for men who are prone to commit crime, although they have no business to encourage crime. I think it is bad policy to suspend any policeman before the facts of the case have been heard.”
The charges against Wirtz came after an investigation was ordered into a statement made by Walter Lewandowski, 24 of 924 Atlantic Avenue, who was captured when he attempted to hold up a clerk at the wool scouring company, Ferry Avenue and Jackson Street. Lewandoski claimed he had “been framed” and named Joseph Powell, a police stool pigeon, as the one who planned the holdup and then informed Wirtz of the plans.
Powell has been a police informer for some time, according to Chief Colsey. The latter said he had taken Powell into custody f or questioning and had released him in his own recognizance. Chief Colsey admitted Powell had given police the tip resulting in Lewandowski’s arrest.
When Lewandowski was nabbed, his gun was loaded with blank cartridges. This gun, according to Chief Doran, was given by Wirtz to Powell, who in turn gave it to Lewandowski. Another youth, Leonard Rogalski, 20, of 1219 South Tenth Street, was supposed to take part in the ho1dup, but “got cold feet and ran away” police were told by Lewandoski.
Doran’s statement follows:
Stanley Wirtz, Camden city detective, supplied the gun and the automobile used in the attempted hold-up of the Eavenson & Levering Company payroll office Friday night. Statements were given us by three suspects all tally.
Walter Lewandoski worked at the Eavenson & Levering plant, but was laid off there February 28. On March 3 he had money coming to him and he returned to the plant. Joseph Powell accompanied him. Powell talked to Lewandoski then of the payroll, and suggested the holdup. Powell then got in touch with Stanley Wirtz, and told him that Lewandoski was going to stick up the payroll March 4.
Wirtz on that night loaned Powell a car but someone got cold feet, and the holdup was not attempted. The following week, on March 13, last Friday, Wirtz took a car to Powell’s home and there turned over to him two guns and the automobile. Wirtz then had detectives posted at the scene to arrest the bandits when they made the holdup attempt.
Powell met Lewandowski and Rogalski and drove them to the plant. There Powell turned over to his two companions the two guns that had been given him by, Wirtz. Rogalski got cold feet and refused to go through with the holdup. Powell then went into the plant with Lewandowski. After Lewandowski went in the door, Powell ran from the building.
Sergeant Gus Koerner and Detective Clifford Carr, hiding in the office arrested Lewandowski. Powell knew where these officers were hiding.
Wirtz was outside the building. He did not catch Powell.
Chief Doran said that no one implicates Koerner or Carr in any way in the statements received.
Koerner said:
I was doing police work. I was brought into this case on a tip that a holdup was going to be staged and I had no knowledge ofthe guns or the car. I didn’t know what it was all about but merely was there to perform my duties as a policeman.
Wirtz is 37 and lives at 1197 Thurman Street. He was one of the first of the new policemen to be appointed to the department in 1924 after Civil Service was put into effect following the adoption of Commission government in 1924. He is a veteran of the World War and got a special rating for that reason when he took the Civil Service examination. In 1931 Wirtz was appointed as an accident investigator in the detective bureau and has served in that capacity ever since. He has a good reputation as a policeman and has never been in trouble before.
About four years ago Wirtz figured in an automobile accident that caused serious injury to one of his legs.
Rogalski was not arrested until County Detectives James Wren and Casimir Wojtkowiak took him in Monday night. The same detectives arrested Powell. Both suspects were charged with attempted holdup and robbery and committed to the county jail.
Lewandowski also is in county jail, committed without bail by police Judge Lewis Liberman Saturday.
Wirtz to Hear Fate in Bandit Quiz Today
Camden Courier-Post —
Colsey Doubts Cop Will Face Charges; Case to Go to Grand Jury
Decision on any action to be taken against Stanley Wirtz, suspended Camden detective charged with having furnished the guns and automobile for a holdup, will be made today by Commissioner Mary W. Kobus and Police Chief Arthur Colsey.
Wirtz, with Sergeant Gus Koerner and Detective Clifford Carr, was questioned yesterday, and decision was reserved.
Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando, however, said he would place the case before the grand jury.
The charge involved the attempted holdup of the Eavenson & Levering Company payroll, in which one of the alleged bandits was captured at the scene last Friday night.
“No charges have been preferred against Wirtz,” Mrs. Kobus announced after the investigation.
“And I don’t believe any charges will be made,” Colsey commented, adding:
“Commissioner Kobus and I are going over the reports and statements of all concerned at 10:00 AM tomorrow and a decision will be made then.”
Suspended Tuesday
Wirtz was suspended Tuesday after County Detective Chief Lawrence T. Doran announced Wirtz had admitted supplying the pistols and car, allegedly used in the abortive attempt to obtain a $800 payroll at the wool-scouring plant.
Wirtz was still under suspension last night, Colsey announced.
William B. Macdonald, court stenographer, recorded the statements made by each man,
Koerner and Carr were “planted” in the office of the company before the holdup and frustrated the attempted crime, capturing Walter Lewandowski, 24, of 924 Atlantic Avenue.
“All three made full statements to us,” Colsey said and then declined to reveal what the statements contained.
Denies Stories Clash
Asked if there was any conflict between the statements made to Doran and those made to Mrs. Kobus and him, Colsey said:
“No, I wouldn’t say so.”
Wirtz appeared briefly before the commissioner and chief at the start of their probe, which was conducted in Mrs. Kobus’ office. He left the room after about two minutes and told reporters, sitting outside:
“I refused to make a statement. I made one yesterday and that is enough.”
Mrs. Kobus, however, said Wirtz did not refuse to make a statement but, instead, asked for a little time to consider his statement.
“He said he had been In court all day and was nervous,” Mrs. Kobus said.
No Charges Made
Asked for a statement at the conclusion of the investigation, Mrs. Kobus said:
“No charges have been preferred against Wirtz, This was not a hearing on any charge. This was an investigation of reports which I read in the newspapers. It is the duty of the police officials to investigate any such report, and Wirtz and the other two detectives who figured in the case were called in to make statements. ‘This was not, a trial and I do not care to make a statement now about what went on.”
The suspension of Wirtz came after an investigation was ordered into a statement made by Lewandowski.
Lewandowski charged that he had been “framed” by Joseph Powell, a police stool pigeon. He named Powell as the one who “planned the holdup” and, said Powell then informed Wirtz of the plans.
Rearrest Made
Doran said Wirtz admitted dealing with Powell and giving Powell two pistols and an automobile for use in the holdup. As a result Powell, who had been arrested and released by city police, was rearrested by the county detectives.
In addition, Leonard “Rags” Rogalski, 20, of 1219 South 10th Street, was arrested by the county detectives. They said Lewandowski told them Rogalski originally was intended to take part in the holdup but got “cold feet,” and backed out at the last moment.
Powell, Lewandowski and Rogalski are held in the county jail.
When informed last night of the statements made by Mrs. Kobus and Colsey, Prosecutor Orlando said:
“I have nothing to do with the discipline of the police department. I will present the full facts of this holdup to the grand jury and, that body may take any action it desires.”
Jury to get Case
Asked if he would request an indictment against Wirtz, Orlando said:
“I will give the grand jury the full facts. The members will decide for themselves what action to follow.”
Doran was in conference briefly with Mrs. Kobus and Colsey before the three detectives were questioned. He said he gave them statements made by Lewandowski, Powell and Rogalski, and also by Wirtz.
Later Doran returned to Mrs. Kobus’ office with a copy of charge of carrying concealed deadly weapons, preferred in 1930 against Lewandowski in 1930, when Lewandowski was 18.
This charge was no-billed, Doran said.
“He was listed as a mental case,” Doran said, “and was examined by the county physician and pronounced O.K.”
4 Holdup Suspects Are Denied Bail
Camden Courier-Post —
Three Brothers and Companion Identified by Victim, Detectives Report
Four suspects, three of them brothers, arrested in connection with an alleged holdup and robbery, were held without bail yesterday by Police Judge Lewis Liberman.
They are charged with holding up and robbing James R. Wilson, 25, of 591 Carman street, of $14.57 early Thursday. They pleaded not guilty.
The four, police said, were identified by Wilson Thursday night, after the arrest of Harry Huntley, 24, of 409 Webster street, and Steven Brzozowski, 17, one of the brothers, of 554 Chelton avenue.
Huntley and Brzozowski were arrested by District Detectives Joseph Leonhardt and Clarence Phifer on Chelton avenue near Broadway.
The other two brothers were arrested by Acting Sergeant Nathan Wine and Patrolman Richard Scarduzio on a tip a few hours after Wilson reported the holdup and robbery. They are Bronislaw, 20, and Joseph, 19.
John Brzozowski, 57, father of the brothers, arrested in connection with the case, was given the alternative of paying a $25 fine or spending 30 days in jail, by Judge Liberman.
Detective Clifford Carr said that when he went to the Brzozowski home in connection with the case, the elder Brzozowski reviled him. Brzozowski later appeared at police headquarters and Carr arrested him on a charge of disorderly conduct.
Wilson told police he was in his automobile at Jefferson and Arlington streets when the four stopped him.
Two of them, he said, forced him into the back seat, while two others followed in another car. He said he did not know whether they were armed, but said they held him by the wrists while taking his money.
Twice the machines stopped while the men conferred, Wilson said. Then they drove off Broadway into Bulson street in the direction of the river. Wilson said he escaped when the car he was in slowed down to avoid striking a milk wagon.
Man Slays Neighbor, Pleads Self Defense
Camden Courier-Post —
A South Camden man was shot to death yesterday afternoon “because he went around threatening his neighbors.”
The dead man was William Brown, 57, of 717 Sycamore street. Arrested and charged with his murder is James H. Coston, 30, of 709 Sycamore street. Both are Negroes.
Police said Coston admitted the shooting, claiming self-defense and “because Brown was always threatening his neighbors.”
The shooting occurred at the home of Mrs. William Tart, 724 Sycamore street.
After the shooting, Coston walked to the front porch of the house and awaited the arrival of police. He surrendered to Patrolman William Stevenson.
The policeman had the body of Brown removed to West Jersey Hospital. He suffered bullet wounds of the stomach fired from a .32 calibre revolver.
Stevenson said Coston told him that Brown started after him with a knife and he pulled the weapon from his pocket and fired it three times. Two of the bullets struck Brown.
Boy, 10, Admits Theft of Satchel with $17
Camden Courier-Post —
A 10-year-old boy was arrested yesterday by Detective Clifford Carr and charged with stealing a handbag containing $17.
Miss Anna Smaldore had complained to police that the handbag was stolen Monday afternoon from the office where she is employed at 511 Market street.
Carr later found the bag, emptied of its contents, at Broadway and Market street. He traced several clues to the home of George Nelson, 10, of 209 South Fourth street. According to the detective the boy admitted having taken and spent the money.
Third Suspect Seized in Holdup at Cemetery
Camden Courier-Post —
Chester Mignogna, 23, of 429 Stevens street, was arrested Saturday for complicity in a holdup of Jacob Mutzer, 62, of 417 Carteret street, on June 16. He will be arraigned in police court today.
Patrolman George Getley made the arrest on complaint of Detective Clifford Carr, investigating the case. Two others were arrested recently and held for grand jury action for the robbery. They are Michael Meloni, 22, of 312 South Fourth street, and Dominic Vizzone, 25, of 316 South Fifth street.
Mutzer said three men offered to give him a ride home late one night as he was standing at Broadway and Benson street. He said they took him to Evergreen Cemetery where they beat him and stole his watch and $60 in cash. Meloni was arrested first and Vizzone a few days later.
Murder Suspect Held Without Bail for Jury
Camden Courier-Post —
Police Judge Lewis Liberman yesterday ordered James Coston, 31, Negro, of 709 Sycamore street, held without bail for the grand jury charged with the murder of William Brown, Negro, 67, of 517 Sycamore street. Brown was shot to death on Eighth street last week.
Two other Negroes arrested with Coston Saturday are held without bail as material witnesses in the slaying. They are Percy Govens, 26, of 615 Sycamore street, and James Thomas, 25, of 722 Sycamore street.
Suspect Is Released as Aiding in Holdup
Camden Courier-Post —
Chester Mignogna, 23, of 429 Stevens street, was ordered released yesterday by Police Judge Lewis Liberman when no one could identify him as being one of three who held up Jacob Mutzer, 62, of 417 Carteret street, on June 16.
Mignogna was arrested Saturday on suspicion of being involved in the robbery.
Patrolman George Getley made the arrest on complaint of Detective Clifford Carr, investigating the case. Two others were arrested recently and held for grand jury action for the robbery. They are Michael Meloni, 22, of 312 South Fourth street, and Dominic Vizzone, 25, of 316 South Fifth street.
Mutzer said three men offered to give him a ride home late one night as he was standing at Broadway and Benson street. He said they took him to Evergreen Cemetery where they beat him and stole his watch and $60 in cash.
Meloni was arrested first and Vizzone a few days later.
Woman Arrested on Check Charge
Camden Courier-Post —
Mrs. Charlotte Cliver Taken by Detectives at Beauty Parlor
Mrs. Charlotte Cliver, 53, of 532 Penn street, was arrested Saturday by Detectives Clifford Carr and Clarence Arthur on charges of passing worthless checks.
The detectives were summoned to the beauty parlor of Joseph Follmer, 521 Market street, where they made the arrest. Follmer said the woman had been given a hair treatment on August 7 for $1 and had received change for a $7 check. He said the check was returned.
Saturday, Follmer said, the woman again tried to cash a $7 check. Detectives said they believed the woman passed a number of bad checks in Camden. Nine filled out checks for amounts totalling $61 and four check books were found in her purse, they said.
Carr and Arthur said the same woman gave a $7 check to Nathan Saunders, of 510 Federal street, on July 29, in payment for produce and received change. The check was also returned.
Woman Sentenced on Check Charge
Camden Courier-Post —
Mrs. Charlotte Cliver, 53, of 532 Penn street, was sent to jail for 60 days after pleading guilty in Police Court yesterday to charges of passing worthless checks.
Mrs. Cliver was arrested Saturday at the beauty parlor of Joseph Follmer, 521 Market street. He said the woman had been given a hair treatment on August 7 for $1 and had received change for a $7 check. He said the check was returned.
Saturday, Follmer said, the woman again tried to cash a $7 check. Detectives said they believed the woman passed a number of bad checks in Camden. Nine filled out checks for amounts totalling $61 and four check books were found in her purse, they said.
Detectives Carr and Arthur said the same woman gave a $7 check to Nathan Saunders, of 510 Federal street, on July 29, in payment for produce and received change. The check was also returned.
Acted as ‘Lone Wolf,’ Then Took on ‘Model Boy’ as Confederate, He Tells Police
Camden Courier-Post —
JEWELS, PISTOLS DUMPED IN RIVER
A prep school student by day and a burglar by night is being held by Camden police after confessing he robbed 22 suburban homes during the past three months.
For weeks Charles Lynch, 17, of 748 Carman street, played the role of a “lone wolf” in burglarizing homes in Collingswood, Westmont, Haddonfield and Woodlynne, later taking on a confederate, according to a confession made to City Detectives Clifford Carr and Clarence Arthur.
Lynch robbed to obtain sufficient funds to pay $300 for his education at the Lincoln Preparatory School, 717 Spruce street, Philadelphia, he told Carr and Arthur. He enrolled a year ago for a night course but when he turned burglar he obtained enough money from the loot to change to a day course so that he might continue his robberies at night, Lynch told police. He has never been arrested before.
Woman Is Arrested in Slaying of Man
Camden Courier-Post —
Madeline Slaughter, 28, of 819 South Second Street, was arrested in Philadelphia yesterday at the request of Camden police, who charged her with manslaughter in the death; December 12, of Jerry Brisbane, 36, of 115 Kaighn Avenue.
The Slaughter woman waived extradition and was brought to Camden by Detectives Clifford Carr and Donald Swissler. They signed a complaint charging, her with stabbing Brisbane during an argument at his home. He was dead when discovered by the proprietor of his rooming house, Charles Stewart.
Cop's Guest Beaten; Colsey Probes Row
Camden Courier-Post —
Youth ‘Blackjacked’ at Party; Father Retains Lawyer, to Investigate
Police Chief Arthur Colsey yesterday detailed three detectives to investigate a street row early Sunday at Fourth and Mechanic streets in which a Fairview youth and a Camden policeman were involved.
The youth, Walter Callahan, 21, of 1375 Roanoke Road, is confined to Cooper Hospital with a slight brain concussion and head cuts he said he received when “blackjacked” by Policeman Earl Cunningham, of 448 Mechanic street.
Chief Colsey removed Cunningham from duty yesterday afternoon pending completion of the probe.
The investigation ordered by Colsey followed after Walter Callahan Sr., father of the youth, retained an attorney for the purpose, he said, “of getting at the bottom of this.” Chief Colsey said that young Callahan had refused to talk to detectives at the hospital.
The elder Callahan, a Gloucester druggist, said he had learned that his son was “more or less of an innocent bystander” in a row that started in the Cunningham home and that he received a “severe beating” from Cunningham and the latter’s son, “Bud.”
“My son went to a party at the Cunningham home,” Callahan said, “and there, I am told, a row started between young Cunningham and a girl. My son objected to a remark passed to the girl and then Cunningham and his son jumped on my boy and beat him.”
“I have retained Charles A. Cogan, a Camden attorney, and have instructed him to make a thorough investigation preliminary to proceeding with court action.”
Prefers Drunk Charge
Detectives Clifford Carr, Donald Switzer and John Opfer were named by Colsey to make an investigation for the police department.
Cunningham, who caused a detainer to be lodged against Callahan on a charge of being drunk and disorderly; told his superiors he was forced to use his blackjack on Callahan when the youth attacked him and tore his shirt and underwear.
According to the policeman, who was off duty at the time, Callahan attended a party in the Cunningham home celebrating the policeman’s wedding anniversary. Cunningham said Callahan left the house and became engaged in a noisy argument with two girls outside. He said the youth attacked him when he came out and sought to quiet Callahan.
Parolee Seized in Stolen Auto by Camden Cop
Camden Courier-Post — 1938
PAROLEE SEIZED IN STOLEN AUTO BY CAMDEN COP
Sadowski Was Freed by Judge in 20-Year Term for Bank Holdup
ARRESTED AT WHEEL OF ELUSIVE MACHINE
Mitchell Sadowski, 21-year-old paroled convict, who was given a “break” five months ago in Federal Court by Judge Philip Forman, was under arrest again last night after being found at the wheel of a stolen Pennsylvania automobile.
Sadowski was arrested yesterday by Detective August Pfleiderer after Camden police searched the city for the elusive car since Monday when it was stolen in Philadelphia.
The car was sighted Wednesday by a Parkside resident who called police but the machine disappeared again before detectives arrived. The car, a 1938 Packard coupe, is owned by John Holdstein, of 7614 Brewer avenue, Philadelphia.
Sadowski’s last escapade with the police occurred when he was given a sentence of 20 years in State’s prison which was suspended by Judge Forman on the gunman’s plea he “had a job.”
Judge Forman placed the youth on probation for five years after a jury found him guilty as the getaway driver in the $4119 robbery of the First National Bank of Marlton.
At that time Sadowski had just finished a two-year term in the state prison for holdup near Atlantic City. He was convicted on two indictments in the bank holdup and sentenced to 20 years on each count. Judge Forman ruled the sentences would run concurrently and ordered probation in each instance.
The machine in which Sadowski was arrested was first reported in front of 1310 Park boulevard by Calvin Hunsingur, who called police giving them the license number. Detectives Clifford and William Casler told Hunsingur to watch the car until they could send a tow wagon out for it. A few minutes later Hunsingur saw
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(Continued from Page One)
a young man get into the machine and drive it away.
Detectives Stand Watch
The next time it was reported seen in Camden was at 4 p. m. yesterday when George Mayo, of 812 Kaighn avenue, called and said the car was in front of 824 Kaighn avenue and had been there since 6 a. m. Pfleiderer with Detectives Carr and Joseph Mardino and Detective Sergeant Thomas Murphy went to the address and tore out a wire from the distributor to prevent the machine from being started. They then took stands to watch for anyone entering the machine. At 5:30 p. m., when no one appeared Sgt. Murphy, Carr and Mardino returned to the Detective Bureau leaving Pfleiderer standing at Ninth street and Kaighn avenue.
At 6:30 p. m., Pfleiderer said, he noticed someone get into the machine and try to start it. The detective with gun drawn approached the driver and told him he was under arrest. Pfleiderer immediately recognized the man as Sadowski.
When the detective accosted Sadowski, the youth is alleged to have pleaded with Pfleiderer to shoot him and kill him instead of returning him to state prison.
“Go ahead and shoot me,” cried Sadowski, according to Pfleiderer. “I would rather be shot than go back to prison.”
Pleads Innocence
Last night while Sadowski was in the detention cell in Detective Bureau he paced the floor constantly, pleading with detectives he was innocent and not to send him back to prison.
The gunman’s criminal career began in January, of 1933, when he was arrested for stealing an automobile in Camden and attempting to rob a Mantua chain store.
In 1934 Sadowski was arrested with five others for the holdup of the Public Service bus garage at Fifteenth and Mickle streets and robbery of the cashier of more than $300. He was found guilty of participation and sentenced from seven to 10 years in prison and released on parole in July, last year after serving less than four years.
On his release Sadowski was arrested again for the Marlton bank robbery in which he and three others escaped with $4000. The others were Stanley Krause, Stanley Geda and John Lenkowsky. The four bandits were the same quartet which robbed the Public Service Garage. Each was arrested as he was released from prison. Krause and Geda both drew suspended sentences on March 21, before Judge Frank A. Hendrickson after entering pleas of non vult on the bank holdup charges.
At the time when the four pleaded guilty to the garage holdup, they also admitted robberies of the Genova Cafe, Third and Arch streets, and of the Mantua chain store.
Detectives last night were attempting to link Sadowski with the holdup last Tuesday afternoon of the Dublin National Bank, at Dublin, Pa. Three bandits, all armed and two of them masked, cowed a woman employe and a customer into a corner and forced the cashier, Henry Schanbacker, to hand over $3500 in cash from the cashier’s cage.
Seek Killer of Toll Collector
Gettysburg PA Times —
Camden NJ, July 18 (AP)— New Jersey police scoured the Delaware River waterfront today for two men who shot to death Harry C. Armstrong, 63, a Pennsylvania ferry toll collector, in an attempted holdup Sunday morning. Detectives Clifford Carr and Herbert McCord said Armstrong was shot down as he stepped on a foot button in his ticket office, sounding a siren which brought police and frustrated the robbery. A watchman said he heard the siren and then a shot, and saw two white-shirted men dart from the ferry gate and disappear up a waterfront street.
Minister Collapses After Identifying Body of Daughter
International News Photos —
S884594 WATCH YOUR CREDIT INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTOS SLUG (DWORECKI GROUP)
MINISTER COLLAPSES AFTER IDENTIFYING BODY OF DAUGHTER
CAMDEN, N.J. THE REVEREND WALTER DWORECKI OF THE 4TH POLISH BAPTIST CHURCH OF CAMDEN, PICTURED AS HE COLLAPSED AFTER IDENTIFYING THE BODY OF HIS DAUGHTER AT THE CAMDEN MORGUE. THE GIRL, 18-YEARS OLD, WAS APPARENTLY THROWN FROM AN AUTO AFTER BEING SHOT IN THE RIGHT TEMPLE. HER BODY WAS DISCOVERED IN A CLUMP OF BUSHES IN SOUTH CAMDEN, THIS MORNING. DETECTIVE CARR (LEFT) AND CORONER FRANKLIN JACKSON (RIGHT) AID THE STRICKEN FATHER.
M-8-8-39 330P (SEE STORIES)
Pinball Shooting Suspect Is Held
Camden Courier-Post —
Police Now Claim Gunplay Was Aftermath of Fight at Roadhouse
Detectives yesterday arrested a man in the shooting of Joseph Osinski, 21, of 1162 Mt. Vernon street, and announced they had discarded the theory Osinski may have been the victim of a war between pinball machine distributors.
Theodore S. Malina, of 1096 Thurman street, was arrested on suspicion of being a material witness to atrocious assault and battery by Detectives Thomas Murphy and Clifford Carr. The policemen indicated they were searching for another man.
Malina was beaten early Monday in a roadhouse outside the city by Osinski and a companion, the detective said. They explained Malina was arrested for questioning in the shooting, and said “so far the questioning has proved satisfactory.”
Shortly after the man’s arrest, an attorney, Angelo Malandra, appeared at detective headquarters with a writ of habeas corpus. The writ, however, was directed to the police chief, and was not served on the detectives.
Malandra said he will appear with the writ today, directing the police chief to bring Malina before Judge Clifford Baldwin to show why he should not be released.
Osinski was struck on the mouth by one thug and shot in the leg by another as he lay on a couch in the rear of the R. & M. Amusement Company Office at 1140 Louis street Monday afternoon. The company distributes pinball machines.
The scene of the shooting at first led police to believe Oskinski [sic] might have been wounded by rival pinball machine distributors.
Cops Seek Owners of Chance Boards
Camden Courier-Post —
60,000 Pieces of Illegal Paraphernalia Taken to City Hall
Camden police were searching last night for the owners of 60,000 illegal punchboards seized in a raid late Thursday night at a South Camden three-story building.
Acting on Commissioner Mary W. Kobus’ orders, Detectives Thomas Murphy and Clifford Carr were trying to uncover evidence which would lead to the arrest of the punchboard owners on charges of possessing illegal gambling devices. Commissioner Kobus directed that charges be placed against the proprietors when located.
Seizure of the boards was made by Carr, Murphy and Patrolman Marshall Thompson when they entered a building situated on the south side of Viola street, east of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines tracks.
Last night the paraphernalia was being transferred from the building to a room on the fifth floor of the City Hall in city-owned trucks by city employees. The boards were valued at between $10,000 and $15,000.
The Viola street property is listed on city records as belonging to the Goodwin Company, Inc., with a notation that all tax bills are to be sent to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The seizure was made on the first floor of the building, which was vacant on the second floor and housed a dress shop on the third. The raid followed orders by the commissioner for police to watch any transfer of the business from Philadelphia to this city following police raids last month in Philadelphia.
Bad Check Traps Soldier Deserter
Camden Courier-Post —
Theft of Auto Revealed with Arrest Here of Man from South
Tendering of a worthless check yesterday trapped an army deserter driving a car stolen from Greensboro, N. C.
Detective Clifford Carr arrested the soldier, James R. Lloyd, 23, of Greensboro, at 212 South Fifth street after G. Raymond Wood, manager of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, of 313 Broadway, appeared at police headquarters.
Wood presented a check for $10 signed by Percy Lloyd, drawn on a Camden bank, which had been given him as part payment on a machine to be delivered to the South Fifth street address. Wood checked with the bank and learned they held no account for Percy Lloyd.
After Carr brought Lloyd to Detective Bureau he revealed his true name. Contacting the police of Greensboro, Carr was informed of the larceny of an automobile, a radio and bracelet. The car was discovered parked near Fifth and Stevens street. Greensboro police stated they would forward a warrant for Lloyd. Army officials at Fort Logan, Colo., from where Lloyd deserted about two months ago, were notified.
Camden Detectives Get Escaped Felon
Camden Courier-Post —
Trap Police Character in Phone Booth at Airport Circle
A Camden police character, who escaped Sunday from the Bordentown state prison farm, was captured late yesterday by two city detectives in a telephone booth of an airport circle taproom while he was talking with a former girl friend.
The convict, Anthony Mona, 26, of 947 South Third street, who had served only a month of a two-to-three year sentence for larceny of a saddle and violation of parole, was trapped in the booth and meekly submitted for arrest.
Detective Sgt. Thomas Murphy and Detective Clifford Carr captured Mona about an hour after they received a tip he had been seen in East Camden and Pennsauken township. On this information John L. O’Hara, principal keeper of the state prison, and Thomas A. Mahaney, parole officer, came to Camden to aid in the search. Last night they took Mona back to prison.
Mona made himself conspicuous by wearing a heavy dark beard and dark glasses. The detectives first checked the escaped convict’s home and were told he had not visited there. A second unsuccessful clue led to a house on River avenue near Thirtieth street.
Warned that Mona was armed the detectives received a “sure tip” he was seen entering the Pennsauken taproom. Detective Capt. Gus Koerner told Murphy and Carr to fire their pistols if Mona moved to use a revolver.
Entering the taproom the detectives converged on the telephone booth with drawn revolvers. They kicked in the booth door. Mona was heard to say to the woman he was talking with: “Here’s the law now. No use talking now.”
Mona fled from Bordentown while doing farm work. He was sentenced by Judge Sheehan Nov. 17, 1943, after his conviction on a charge of stealing a saddle from a Haddonfield riding academy. The court suspended sentence and fined Mona $100, payable in weekly installments. When he failed to keep up the payments he was brought before Judge Sheehan on May 10 and sentenced to serve the term.
Mona’s Camden police record dates from Feb. 9, 1938 when he was arrested for a holdup. On March 2, he was given a suspended sentence of 18 months to three years. In February, 1940, he was arrested on a statutory charge and a support order was later made against him. He was arrested on May 8, 1940, on an assault and battery charge. No disposition was made of this charge.
Picked up as a fugitive on Jan. 1, this year, he was turned over to state police of the Columbus station. On Feb. 3, he was arrested on suspicion in Pennsauken township and later fined $10 and costs for failing to have his driver’s license.
Auto Gunmen Fell Racetrack Figure
Charleston WV Daily Mail —
Camden NJ, August 26 (AP)— Five automatic shotgun blasts from a speeding automobile felled Robert Francis Curran, 44, of Silver Spring MD, a race horse trainer at Garden State Park, as he left the Walt Whitman Hotel in downtown Camden Saturday. Thirteen pellets hit Curran, but physicians at a hospital said he was not seriously wounded. Detective Clifford Carr said neither Curran nor his friends could explain the attempt on his life. The automobile sped away and no description of it or its occupants was obtained.
De Sanctis Dies in Parked Car, Pal Wounded
Camden Evening Courier —
Police Character Arrested in Night Slaying of Grand Jury Witness
Victim Spurned Tip to Keep Alive in Jail
Camden police early today arrested a Delaware township ex-convict for investigation in the slaying last night of Romeo DeSanctis, star witness against suspects in the recent Casablanca roadhouse holdup.
DeSanctis, released in bail last week as a material witness to the holdup, was killed as he sat with a companion in a parked car, a few hours after he testified before the grand jury in connection with the holdup.
The companion, Leon Grenkwicz, a well-known police character, is in critical condition in West Jersey hospital from bullet wounds of the face. He walked three blocks to the hospital from the scene of the shooting on Mt. Ephraim avenue near Kaighn.
Warned to Stay In Jail
Joseph C. Putek, 35, who has a record of 12 arrests and several convictions on charges that include holdup and robbery, was taken into custody today at his home on Fulton street by Captain Koerner and Detective Carr, of the Camden police. He was booked on suspicion and for investigation. He insisted he was in Philadelphia when DeSanctis was shot.
Prosecutor Mariano said DeSanctis was killed because he testified before the grand jury. Released from jail when his bail was reduced from $50,000 to $7000 as a result of a writ obtained by his family, DeSanctis met a fate feared by the authorities, Mariano revealed. “I told him he had better stay in custody,” the prosecutor said. “I warned him he might be killed.”
“Let Us Have It”
Grenkwicz, conscious in the hospital, told police he and DeSanctis were seated in his car, facing north. He said a large, dark colored sedan drew alongside and just ahead of his car.
A man holding a gun, Grenkwicz said, leaned out of the window and “let us have it.” Police said the weapon was either a machinegun or a sawed-off shotgun with extra large buck shot as ammunition.
“I was a damned fool to be with DeSanctis,” Grenkwicz added.
The left side of DeSanctis’ head, police said, was nearly blown off. Grenkwicz was struck in the face and left hand.
Slugs Rip Through Auto
Slugs tore through the left door and window, the windshield and hood of the car and some struck a plate glass window of a bakery at 1212 Mt. Ephraim avenue, directly behind the car.
The killers’ car continued north on Mt. Ephraim avenue, turned east on Kaighn avenue and disappeared. A police alarm description of the auto was broadcast immediately.
The shooting occurred 80 yards from an alleged speakeasy DeSanctis is said to have operated on Mt. Ephraim avenue and only about 300 yards from Cappy’s Restaurant, 1105 Kaighn avenue, where Stephen Burns, now under arrest as a suspect in the roadhouse holdup, was employed as night manager. Burns was arrested Feb. 14 as he left the restaurant.
Patrolman Oliver Morgan reported he saw DeSanctis in the restaurant between 6 and 6.30 p. m. last night. Prosecutor Mariano immediately ordered police to obtain the names of all persons in the eating house yesterday. Mariano said Grenkwicz denied he was in the restaurant.
Charles Cook, a city fireman, of 1142 Mt. Ephraim avenue, near Kaighn avenue, ran to the scene from his home after hearing the shooting.
Cook and four employes, two women and two men, of Cappy’s restaurant, made statements last night in Mariano’s office, where county, city and state police assembled to coordinate their investigation.
“Cappy” Roman, proprietor of the restaurant, later was questioned. Roman, police said, told them both DeSanctis and Grenkwicz ate dinner in his place last night about 6 o’clock.
Freed in $7000 Bail
DeSanctis, who lived at 1351 Decatur street, was released about 10 days ago in $7000 bail as a material witness in the Casablanca holdup. The roadhouse was held up at 2.55 a. m. Feb. 27 when five masked bandits herded 50 or 60 patrons into the kitchen and robbed them of their money and emptied the club cash registers.
Leaving the roadhouse, the bandits singled out DeSanctis and ordered him to accompany them as a hostage. When they reached the outside, however, they were fired upon by Delaware township policeman Power. DeSanctis dropped to the ground as the bandits escaped in a waiting car, which had been spotted by the policeman.
DeSanctis was arrested later in the day and held incommunicado for seven days before he was arraigned as a material witness and held in $50,000 bail. DeSanctis’ family later obtained a writ of habeas corpus and subsequently he was released in $7000 bail.
Meanwhile, police arrested Burns, Leonard Lutz and James McBride, all ex-convicts, as suspects in the robbery.
McBride Brought to Camden
McBride was lodged in a cell in Camden jail today after being extradited from Philadelphia. Extradition proceedings were delayed by an application in his behalf for a writ of habeas corpus, but at a hearing on the writ before Judge Brown in Philadelphia this morning, the suspect’s attorney, Louis F. McCabe, withdrew the writ after stating identification had been established for extradition purposes. McBride then was turned over to Mariano and County Detectives Mulligan and Dube and brought to Camden.
Burns and Lutz are in the county jail awaiting action of the grand jury.
It was reported that testimony given the grand jury yesterday by DeSanctis was for the purpose of obtaining indictments against Burns and Lutz.
Grenkwicz, who gave his address as 118 Pershing road, Brooklawn, has a long police record including holdup and robbery. He was arrested in 1933 as a suspect in the $11,000 holdup of the Radio Condenser Co.
Police Study Bullet Holes in Death Car
THE PATTERN OF BULLETS which killed one man and critically wounded another at Mt. Ephraim avenue near Kaighn last night is shown on the left side of the death car, being examined by Patrolman Andruzza. Romeo (Rocco) DeSanctis, left, was slain shortly after appearing before the grand jury in connection with the Casablanca Roadhouse holdup. Leon Grenkwicz, also shown, was wounded critically as they sat in Grenkwicz’ car. The even row of bullet holes directly under the window indicates a machinegun was used in the murder. The shots through the upper part of the car were made by shotgun blasts, detectives said.
Mrs. Catherine Carr Dies; Wife of Sleuth
Camden Courier-Post —
Mrs. Catherine Larkin Carr, wife of Detective Sergeant Clifford Carr, died last night in her home at 712 Royden street after a long illness.
Mrs. Carr was a member of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Also surviving are two daughters, Sister Mary Marian, of the Convent of Mercy, Boundbrook, and Mrs. Mary Bloomer, Camden; a brother, Richard Larkin, Pennsauken, and a sister, Mrs. Florence Kennedy, Philadelphia.
Tearful Scene at Detective Bureau
Iowa City IA Press Citizen —
Camden NJ February 10 (AP)— Six detectives stood in their headquarters at Camden City Hall with tears streaming down their faces. A great tragedy? A frustrating crime? No, nothing like that. Seems Detective Sergeant Clifford Carr opened a tear gas cylinder marked empty. It wasn’t.
Street Bandit Slugs Woman Leaving Bus
Camden Courier-Post —
Camden police today are searching for a thug who beat Mrs. Emma Weber, 38, of 2836 Idaho road, after she alighted from a bus in Fairview Tuesday night.
Mrs. Weber reported the attack today to Detective Sgt. Clifford Carr. She explained she did not want to report it, but her family insisted she do so.
She said she alighted from the bus at 10.30 p. m. at Yorkship and Octagon roads. A minute later a husky man approached her and struck her head several times without saying anything to her.
Mrs. Weber said she fought the man off and that he fled on foot as an automobile approached. She said she received three stitches at Cooper hospital for a face cut.
She described the man as six feet tall and weighing 200 pounds, with close cropped brown hair.
Burglary Victims Recover $4360 In Stolen Goods
Camden Courier-Post —
Display at City Hall Rivals Oriental Bazaar In Variety Shown
Loot valued at $4360 by detectives was returned to its owners in detective headquarters in city hall Tuesday night.
Headquarters resembled an Oriental bazaar as the stolen articles were spread over seven tables, two large desks, and hung on clothing racks.
Detectives are holding George Wilmer, 30, of 521 Liberty street, a parolee, whom they suspect of being Camden’s daytime “phantom burglar” who has been plaguing the department for the last three months. To date police say they have charged Wilmer with 29 counts of breaking and entering and two counts of attempting to break and enter.
Captain of Detectives Thomas Murphy said that Tuesday night’s display was only a portion of the loot and that police believe Wilmer pawned a quantity of the goods in Philadelphia. They also suspect he sold some to secondhand and antique dealers, Murphy said.
The display that met the claimants when they went to headquarters looked like a mail order catalog come to life. There were women’s dresses, men’s suits and top coats, several types of radios, an oil space heater, binoculars, cameras; costume jewelry, empty wallets and even a clothes chest with the clothing still in it.
Missing from the collection were two parakeets which detectives returned to their owner Thursday because—unlike the other items—the birds had to be fed.
Assisting Capt. Murphy in the identification and return of the stolen items were: Detective Sergeants Earl Quinton, William Neal, William Kelly and Clifford Carr, and Detectives William O’Brien, John Huston, August Pfleiderer, George Ellis and Marshall Thompson.
Crowd Views Articles
According to Capt. Murphy the claimants, their addresses, the stolen objects and their estimated value are:
Mrs. Waid Young, 526 Washington street, electric sewing machine, woman’s jewelry, $358; Miss Catherine Sparks, 110 South Fourth street, table model radio, $19; Mrs. Ethel Kelly, 1068 Princess avenue, jewelry, $155; Mrs. Leo Jekel, 548 Haddon avenue, table model radio, portable typewriter, woman’s ring, $85; William Snyder, 1304 Park boulevard, table model radio, $55; Milfred Layser, 416 Chambers avenue, carpenter’s tools, a dress coat, $175; James Glennon, 802 Mt. Ephraim avenue, jewelry, $300; Mrs. Williams Cogswell, 914 Linden street, clothing and jewelry, $1242.50.
Mrs. Lena Bruns, 772 Line street, metal clothes chest with clothes, tool chest, jewelry, $125; Mrs. Anna Halliwell, 870 Haddon avenue, foreign money, no value given; Mrs. Martha Oehlert, 643 Mt. Vernon street, oil space heater, jewelry, $138; Mrs. William J. McCaffrey, 1030 Spruce street, antique clock, $400; Mrs. Lillian Simons, 412 Taylor avenue, clothing and jewelry, $20.
Veteran Boxers’ association, 868 Mt. Ephraim avenue, record player, amplifier and recorder, $100; John McNutt, 1620 Ferry avenue, jewelry and clothing, $300; Romeo Simonelli, 404 Haddon avenue, men’s and women’s clothing, $94; Mrs. Theresa Auletto, 929 South Third street, jewels, $405; Mrs. Vera Doughton, 1023 South Sixth street, table model radio, $16; Emidio Giorgi, 1353 Princess avenue, clarinet and man’s suit, $125.
Ten Retired Camden Policemen Praised, Receive Gold Badges
Camden Courier-Post —
At Benevolent Group Dinner:
By James M. Neville
Ten retired members of the Camden Police Department answered their last roll call Tuesday night.
They received gold retirement badges and lifelong membership cards in the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association at the second annual dinner of Local 35 in Kenney’s.
Their ages ranged from 52 to 65 and collectively they represented a total of 327 years of service to the city.
“You have put aside badges and clubs and now the new men can take over,” commented guest speaker County Judge Anthony C. Mitchell.
Lauded By Judge
“You can go home tonight and look in the mirror and say: ‘I wasn’t the worst cop in the world,’ for some of you are among the finest men we’ve had in the department over the years. You deserve your reward of retirement now,” the judge said.
E. George Aaron, commissioner of police, who was toastmaster, said some of the retiring men being honored by more than 125 members and guests “have given good and long service.”
“I’ve worked with them and I’ve lived with them,” continued Aaron.
“We have one of the finest and hardest working police departments in the state or anywhere. I even think the public is now aware of that, with a new respect for the policeman today.”
Retiring Officers
Those retiring in the year 1957–58 are:
Insp. Walter E. Rewand, with 41 years; Det. Harry Kyler Sr., 35; Sgt. John Stanton, 35; Det. Benjamin Simon, 34; Ptl. Samuel Corsella, 32; Sgt. Karl Friedrichs, 31; Insp. Thomas P. Murphy, 30; Det. Marshall Thompson, 30; Det. Sgt. Clifford Carr, 30, and Ptl. William Thorn, 29.
Insp. Anthony Skolski, in charge of the patrol division, was also presented with a gold card in a leather case for outstanding service, along with a lifelong membership.
Sgt. Joseph Hooven was given a silver card and lifelong membership for outstanding work. Hooven is in charge of auto investigation division.
Juvenile Problem
In lauding the hard tasks confronting the policeman of today, both Judge Mitchell and Commissioner Aaron rapped the soft attitude of the public toward juveniles who consistently break the law.
“Unfortunately everybody is worried about the juveniles,” Judge Mitchell said.
“We are not worried, as we should be, about the man who has his car stolen, his purse robbed, his daughter molested.
“Instead, everybody’s worried about poor little Johnny, who’s always in trouble with the police.
“Sometimes you have to struggle just to keep your hands off Johnny. You even feel like doing what his father should have done.
“The ability of today’s patrolman to hold within the line of duty, keep his hands off, hold his patience with little Johnny, is commendable.”
Law Change Urged
“What Judge Mitchell has said is important to you policemen,” said Aaron. “Before I entered police work I considered myself something of a reformer. But ever since I came up against these youngsters who don’t mind breaking the law, I’ve found it very disturbing.
“I’d like to see the Legislature pass a law reducing the age from 18 to 16.
“I have no quarrel with arguments about broken homes and other causes for misbehavior, but we must see to it that these youngsters do not do more damage.”
The commissioner pointed out that only two percent of the youth in the nation can be classified as delinquent.
‘But that adds up to a considerable number when you figure it out,’ he stated. “Besides, we have first-hand evidence that these youngsters can be real nasty. Some are sadistic and cruel to a point that few adults realize.
Defiance Shown
“When taken into custody, these youngsters know that nothing is going to happen to them, which doesn’t make the job of the policeman any easier.
“It seems to me that a lot of these youngsters must be taught they can’t do wrong before 18 years of age and get away with it.”
Second Vice President Mike Lombardi, of Maple Shade, informed the membership that plans are underway to present a bill in the Legislature which will provide policemen with three-fourths full pay, instead of one-half, for 20 years service.
Other speakers included Sen. Joseph W. Cowgill who said he would vote for any legislation favoring policemen.
“I have always and will always support any legislation which is reasonable,” he added.
“The Camden police department has lost much in the retirement of these 10 good men.”