Introduction
Joseph H. Leonhardt
JOSEPH HENRY LEONHARDT was born on July 1, 1894 in Camden, New Jersey to Charles Leonhardt and his wife, the former Mary Moore. The 1900 Census shows him living with his parents and older brother Frank at 553 Division Street. His father worked as a machinist and the Leonhardts owned their home. Sadly, on May 22, 1907 Charles Leonhardt passed away. The Leonhardts were still at the Division Street address when the Census was taken in 1910. Michael Moore, Joseph Leonhardt’s 85 year-old maternal grandfather was also living with them.
On October 20, 1914 Joseph H. Leonhardt married Margaret Eva Keenan. A son, Charles Leonhardt, was born in May of 1915, followed quickly by a daughter, Margaret Mary in October of 1916. When he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 he was working at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyards and living at 1421 Norris Street. On May 8, 1919 his wife gave birth to a daughter, Anita. The 1920 Census shows the Joseph Leonhardt family, his mother and brother Frank all living at 553 Division Street. Both of the brothers were working as shipfitters. In December of 1924 another daughter, Mary V. Leonhardt, was born. The 1930 Census shows Joseph Leonhardt and his family at 514 Division Street. They moved back to 553 Division Street by the fall of 1932. On April 9, 1931 Joseph Leonhardt’s mother, Mary Moore Leonhardt, passed away. On November 14, 1932 his wife, Margaret Eva died.
Joseph Leonhardt was appointed to the Camden Police Department on April 15, 1924. He was promoted to Detective in the summer of 1934 and almost immediately was thrown into the center of controversy. He was with Detective William T. Feitz on September 2, 1934 when Feitz walked into a hold-up at a disorderly house at 243 Sycamore Street and was shot to death. A probe in the wake of the killing yielded indictments against six Camden police officers, including Joseph Leonhardt. He and four others were acquitted on April 1, 1935. He was reinstated on June 29, 1935 and returned to duty with the Camden Police Department a few days later.
Charles Leonhardt married Sarah Murphy and Anita Leonhardt married George Peyton. Late in 1939 Joseph Leonhardt retired on pension from the Camden Police Department. The 1940 Census shows Joseph Leonhardt, his brother Frank, son Charles and his wife, and daughters Margaret and Mary all at 553 Division Street. Joseph Leonhardt died May 8, 1941 and was buried at Calvary Cemetery.
World War I Draft Card
WWI Draft Card for Joseph H. Leonhardt. Registered June 5, 1917. Ship Fitter at the N.Y. S.B. Corporation, Camden, NJ. Born July 1, 1894.
Gangster Shot as Racketeers Open War Here
Camden Courier-Post —
Gloucester Man Near Death After Attack at Broadway and Kaighn Avenue
FELLED NEAR QUARTERS OF CAMDEN GAMBLERS
Brother of Frank Doris Accused After Police Round Up 10 Men
In Gang Shooting
JOHN DORIS
Brother of Frank Doris, who was electrocuted for murder in connection with the Olney Bank robbery. John Doris is under arrest for shooting an alleged racketeer here yesterday.
Shooting of an alleged racketeer at Broadway and Kaighn avenue, near the threshold of one of South Jersey’s notorious reputed gambling joints, threw Camden police into renewed warfare on gangdom yesterday.
Like the shots that riddled Hughy McLoon, the dwarfed Philadelphia hunchback—shots that blew off the lid off Philadelphia vice and police corruption—those that echoed in the recognized rendezvous of Camden gangdom promised to have far-reaching effects.
The victim was Joseph Connors, 28, of 135 North Broadway, Gloucester, alleged beer racketeer. With a bullet in his lungs and another in his abdomen, he was conceded “an even chance” to live at West Jersey Homeopathic Hospital last night
John Doris, 24, brother of Frank Doris, who died in the electric chair for murder during the Olney Bank holdup is under arrest charged with the shooting.
A roundup by a special squad of detectives immediately following the shooting resulted in the arrest of 10 men, among them some well-known gangsters and racketeers. All were held in bail as material witnesses.
Those netted in the roundup and the bail demanded follow:
Russell Sage, 426 Mechanic street, several times suspected in Camden gang shootings, held without bail for trying to help Doris escape; James “Jimmie” Toland, former Philadelphia pugilist and now operator of the Nonpariel Club, $2500 bail; Joseph Simms, cook in the Nonpariel Club, $500 bail; Charles Riehm, 1051 Haddon avenue, manager of the club; William Kelly, alias Leo Morton, 425 Van Hook street, $500; Harry Selah, 1240 South Third street, a spectator who named Doris as the assailant, $500; William J. Merrick, 1128 Liberty street, $2500; Lorenzo Cole, 920 Jefferson avenue, $500; Ernest Matsius, 506 Kaighn avenue, $500; Leo McKenna, 426 Mt. Vernon street, $500.
Motive in Doubt
Motive for the shooting was so tangled in the mazes of gangland’s intrigues of love, avarice and rivalry that police confessed they were unable to fathom it. Gangland’s glib explanation was that Doris and Connors quarreled over change for a $5 bill in the Nonpariel Club, Second and Kaighn avenue several hours before the shooting.
The shooting took place in front of the American Restaurant, 506 Kaighn avenue after the two men had engaged in a bitter quarrel at a table inside. Other patrons saw both arise and punch viciously. Doris suffered severe cuts on the face in the exchange. Then the fighters walked out to the street to finish the battle.
But as Connors raised his hands, the other pulled a pistol and began firing at point-blank range. Connors screamed and ran back toward the restaurant with Doris, the pistol still in readiness, in pursuit.
Shot Shatters Pane
Three shots were fired. One crashed through a window of the United Shoe Repair Shop on the opposite side of the street at 505 Kaighn avenue.
In his haste to escape, Connors lunged through the glass panel of the restaurant door, cutting his hands and face.
The wounded man ran through the kitchen into Amber street at the rear. Doris pursued him as far as Broadway, but turned from the chase when a group of pedestrians ran toward him. Connors collapsed near the corner as he cried “Get the wagon. I’m shot.”
Sage, the suspect denied bail, tried to put the fugitive board [sic] a Philadelphia-Pitman bus, police said, but the driver refused to take him as passenger because he said he was not permitted to make stops in Gloucester, where Sage asked the driver to discharge Doris.
Meanwhile available detectives and patrolmen were hurried to the scene. When the search ended Doris had been in a cell in Camden police headquarters several hours as a “drunk.”
Picked Up as Drunk
He was “sent in” by Policeman Joseph Leonhardt after telling an incoherent story of “bumping off a guy.” Leonhardt sized him up as helplessly drunk and arrested him near the Nonpareil Club less than 30 minutes after the shooting.
It was not until later, when Doris’ friends, a woman among them, called police headquarters for news of him. All asked for him by his right name except the woman. She asked first for Doris and then for “John King.” This was the alias Doris gave when “slated.” He was questioned in his cell by Detective Sergeant Samuel Johnson, but it was not until he actually was identified as the assailant that police were certain they had the right man.
As Detectives Koerner, Cheesman, Carpani, McGrath and Troncone continued to bring suspects into headquarters for questioning, Selah, one of those arrested near the scene of the shooting, was asked as a detective pointed to Doris:
“Is that the man?”
Selah nodded.
Doris Record Bad
Doris has a criminal record that dates back to his school days. Once, Judge James E. Gorman, Philadelphia, told him he was headed for the electric chair—an end that looms as a distinct possibility. Doris also was suspected in the murder of Joseph (Mose) Flannery, in Kaighn avenue, between Front and Second streets, a few doors from the Nonpareil Club.
So far as Camden authorities were able to determine last night, Connors has no police record. He has been linked, they said, to a beer racket and is known as a frequenter of gambling joints, police said, but local records show no mark against him.
Machine Gun Holds Mystery
Two mysterious elements stand out to further baffle scrutiny of the motives behind the shooting. One is the sudden closing of two South Camden gambling joints—one in a second floor room in Broadway, below Kaighn avenue and the other at Tenth street and Kaighn avenue. These places, both operating at full blast, closed their doors on Friday without an explanation that could be reconciled with the circumstances.
The other mysterious touch to yesterday’s affair was an apparently well-authenticated report that police arrested a man in a car with a machine gun. Efforts to learn the identity of this man were fruitless.
Speculation concerning the closing of the gambling houses jumped from rumors of a war of rival gamblers, to warnings of a holdup or of a police raid. Paraphernalia was removed from both places and sentries posted to spread discreet warnings for patrons to keep away. The place at Tenth street and Kaighn avenue was closed by police three months ago. Its reopening was unexplained.
The shooting spurred police officials to what Chief Lewis Stehr declared would be a wholesale cleanup of South Camden’s hangouts, and gaming dens.
“Orders went out three months ago,” said Stehr “to clamp on the lid. We have been working hard to keep it on. This shooting may have no significance in itself, but it stresses the need to wipe out the practice of carrying weapons.”
Extra details of plain clothesmen were on duty in the Kaighn avenue district last night, Stehr announced.
Supreme Court Justice Frank T. Lloyd, Merchantville, recently appointed to serve the district including Camden, declared he intends to review the facts in yesterday’s shooting to determine if his intervention in alleged Camden racketeering is warranted.
Justice Lloyd’s charge to the April grand jury demanding a curb on the carrying of firearms and asking a campaign to curb the influx of Philadelphia criminals into South Jersey, caused widespread anticipation of a general review of vice conditions here.
Commissioner David S. Boone, director of public safety, said the police department “has its hands full” in attempting to execute orders for a cleanup he issued some months ago.
He declared he issued special orders yesterday to Chief Stehr as a result of the most recent shooting. But he declined to disclose their purport.
The shooting was subject of a lengthy conference of the county’s law-enforcement officers in the prosecutor’s office. Lawrence T. Doran, chief of county detectives and Rocco Palese, assistant prosecutor, refused to comment on the possible effect the shooting might have on demands for a review of conditions here.
Doran, who entered the investigation on orders of the prosecutor’s office, attempted unsuccessfully to induce the wounded man to name his assailant. He permitted Connors’ brother, Raymond, to see Joseph, hoping that the brother would aid him.
Instead, Raymond walked to his brother’s side and whispered:
“Don’t say a word. Keep your mouth shut.”
Doran arrested him immediately as a material witness.
Scene of Shooting That Renewed War on Gangdom
—Courier-Post Photo
This diagram shows where John Doris shot down Joseph Connors, alleged racketeer, in a mysterious feud of Camden’s underworld. Doris, gunman, gangster and racketeer, shot his foeman at point-blank range. The dotted line shows how the victim ran for his life into the American Restaurant, 506 Kaighn avenue, with the gunman in pursuit.
Woman Missing as Doris Trial Is Opened Here
Camden Courier-Post —
WOMAN MISSING AS DORIS TRIAL IS OPENED HERE
Key Witness in Cafe Shooting Fails to Appear; Jury Selected
ONLY THREE ARE MEN; PRISONER PICKS THEM
Police on Guard to Block Any Attempt to Free Gangster
A key witness in the shooting of Joseph Connors, of Gloucester, by John Doris, Philadelphia gangster, Mrs. Rose Gibbs, 18, of 411 Henry street, failed to answer her name when called during the trial of Doris today in Criminal Court.
Mrs. Gibbs had been held in $500 bail as a material witness. Her bondsman, Abraham Lutz, was ordered by Judge Shay to produce her this afternoon in lieu of forfeiture of bail.
It was Mrs. Gibbs, according to police, who recounted details of an argument between Connors and Doris, after her pocketbook was missing, while the three and Eli Conaghy, 28, of 818 South Sixth street, were at a party in the 2200 Block on Broadway on the morning of April 28 when Connors was wounded.
The trial of Doris opened shortly before noon before Judge Shay and a jury comprised of nine women and three men whom Doris had virtually selected single-handed.
Doctor Is Called
Doris is charged with atrocious assault and battery with intent to kill Connors, and also is charged with carrying concealed deadly weapons, to wit, a loaded revolver.
The first witness called by Assistant Prosecutor Rocco Palese, representing the state, was Dr. Ralph Warwick, an interns in West Jersey Homeopathic Hospital. Walter S. Keown and William King are representing Doris.
Dr. Warwick testified Connors was admitted to the hospital, suffering from bullet wounds, at 7.45 a. m., April 28, and was discharged on May 15.
Patrolman Joseph Lenhardt testified he heard a disturbance and saw a man trying to break into the Nonpareil Club, Second street and Kaighn avenue, the morning of the shooting. The man was bleeding from the head, and there was blood on his coat and shirt, Lenhardt said.
John B. Toland, 1043 Haddon avenue, caretaker of the club, said he was awakened and recognized Doris as the man trying to enter the place. He said Doris threatened him when warned to leave.
Dr. Warwick testified Connors was admitted to the hospital, suffering from bullet wounds, at 7.45 a. m., April 28, and was discharged on May 15.
Patrolman Joseph Lenhardt testified he heard a disturbance and saw a man trying to break into the Nonpareil Club, Second street and Kaighn avenue, the morning of the shooting. The man was bleeding from the head, and there was blood on his coat and shirt, Lenhardt said.
John B. Toland, 1043 Haddon avenue, caretaker of the club, said he was awakened and recognized Doris as the man trying to enter the place. He said Doris threatened him when warned to leave.
(Continued on Page Three)
Woman is Missing at Trial of Doris
(Continued from Page One)
Conaghy was the next witness. He told of entering a restaurant at Broadway and Kaighn avenue with Connors and Mrs. Gibbs. When he started to tell a different story than that which was revealed to the prosecutor’s office in a statement, Palese announced that the witness had “turned hostile to the state.” Palese quickly excused Conaghy and called Mrs. Gibbs.
There was no answer. It was at this point Judge Shay ordered the girl’s bondsman to have her in court not later than 1.30 p. m.
How Doris attempted to board a bus for Pitman after the shooting and how he was prevented by Russell Sage, a friend of Doris, was described by William Jones, of Barnesboro, driver for an independent bus line between Philadelphia and Pitman.
Court recessed at 12.30 for lunch.
Mrs. Lillie R. Kelton, a clerk, of 405 State street, Camden is foreman of the jury, selection of which took almost an hour, with Doris questioning each of the 29 veniremen called.
The spectators’ gallery was bare, however, more than a score of lawyers and law students were seated in the courtroom.
Besides Mrs. Kelton, the jury is composed of:—Bessie Kunitz, housewife, 926 Fern street; William Wescott, painter, 628 Walnut street; Bernice Branch, clerk, 722 Mt. Vernon street; Mrs. F. L. Barber, housewife, 204 Maple avenue, Merchantville; David Rolle, retired, 1047 North Twentieth street; Abbie Lewis, housewife, 119 North Thirty-sixth street; Mary Heake, housewife, 105 Kingston avenue, Barrington; Stella McGowan, housewife, 780 Walnut street; Catharine LeSage, housewife, Haddonfield; Michael Carrigan, Laurel Springs; Alva P. Joseph, 327 Harvard avenue, Collingswood.
Before the trial began, the jury was used to settle a “friendly” damage suit. After being out of the room 15 minutes, the jury returned and the Doris trial was opened, with Palese making his opening argument.
Palese outlined the shooting of Connors by Doris near Broadway and Kaighn avenue. It was the shooting that led the April grand jury into the investigation of vice and crime in Camden county.
John Doris is a brother of Frankie Doris, who participated in the Olney Bank robbery in Philadelphia nearly two years ago and in which a policeman was killed. Frankie Doris was electrocuted in the penitentiary at Bellfonte, Pa.
Several days ago Assistant Prosecutor Palese received a tip that a number of Philadelphia gangsters were coming to Camden to hear the trial. Prosecutor Baldwin then announced that during the trial only newspapermen and witnesses would be allowed in the courtroom.
Doris also is under indictment charged with the murder of “Mose” Flannery, in a saloon at Second and Kaighn avenue one year ago. While police searched the eastern United States for him in connection with the Flannery murder Doris was living with his mother at Second and State streets. When he was arrested in the Connors shooting he was recognized as the man long wanted in the Flannery murder.
On the night of the Connors shooting Doris and Russel Sage, his companion, were drinking in a night club at Second and Kaighn avenue. An argument started and Connors left and went to a restaurant on Kaighn avenue, east of Broadway.
The men met again there and a fight started. Doris is alleged to have drawn a revolver, chased Connors from the restaurant to the street and fired several shots. He was captured several hours later.
Police Sergeant Truax Buried at Harleigh
Camden Courier-Post —
Police Sergeant Frank Truax, who died Thursday night from a complication of diseases, was buried yesterday in Harleigh Cemetery.
More than two score policemen, as well as city officials, attended services at the funeral parlor of Frank J. Leonard, 1451 Broadway. Rev. E.M. Munyon, pastor of Eighth Street M.E. Church, officiated. More than 50 cars were in the procession that wound its way to the cemetery. A patrol wagon was used to carry the flowers sent by numerous individuals and organizations.
Pallbearers, all policemen, were John Cole, Joseph Leonhardt, James McTaggart, Andrew Truman, William McGrath, Paul Jackson, Joseph Mardino, and Clarence Boyer.
Sergeant Truax was 50 and resided at 1139 Kenwood Avenue. He died five minutes after being taken to Cooper Hospital. He had been a member of the police department since 1917, and was made a sergeant in 1930. He is survived by a widow, Linda, and a sister, Mrs. Viola Wilkinson.
Pernier Convicted in Gun Case, Faces Three to Seven Years in J[?]
Camden Courier-Post —
![Pernier Convicted in Gun Case, Faces Three to Seven Years in J[?] - Camden Courier-Post, January 25, 1933](https://assets.dvrbs.camdenhistory.com/people/prom-2019/williampernier-012533-1a.jpg?w=960&fmt=auto)
![Pernier Convicted in Gun Case, Faces Three to Seven Years in J[?] - Camden Courier-Post, January 25, 1933](https://assets.dvrbs.camdenhistory.com/people/prom-2019/williampernier-012533-2a.jpg?w=960&fmt=auto)
![Pernier Convicted in Gun Case, Faces Three to Seven Years in J[?] - Camden Courier-Post, January 25, 1933](https://assets.dvrbs.camdenhistory.com/people/prom-2019/williampernier-012533-3b.jpg?w=960&fmt=auto)
ONLY 12 MINUTES REQUIRED BY JURY TO REACH VERDICT
Three Cops Tell of Warm Weapon in His Hand in Fight With Enemies
PAL OF SLAIN BONNER
A jury of 12 men after deliberating 12 minutes yesterday convicted William Pernier of carrying a revolver.
The trial of the former pal of William “Shooey” Bonner, slain gangster, was one of the shortest in the history of Camden County Criminal Court. The trial consumed but 2[?] minutes from the time the jurors were sworn until they were sent out for their deliberation.
Pernier, who is 32, and who gave an address of 293 Liberty street, through his attorney Julius Sklar, offered a defense which Assistant Prosecutor Rocco Palese termed a “smoke screen.”
After three policemen testified that they found Pernier with a revolver in his hand on the night of Oct. 30, after he had allegedly fired on thugs who shot him at Locust street and Kaighn avenue, Pernier said the weapon was not his.
“I was walking along Kaighn avenue with my wife, Mary, and three men friends,” he said, “when as we reached Locust street, this car pulled along the curb and the occupants fired at me. I was shot in both legs and after shooting me they threw the revolver at me. I picked it up and tried to shoot at them with it, but it would not go off. I never owned a gun.”
Policemen William Whaland, Joseph Lack and Joseph Leonhardt, however, testified that the gun with four empty shells and one cartridge in it, was still warm when they took it from Pernier’s hand.
After the jury announced that they had found Pernier guilty, Palese stated that he would ask for sentence this morning. Judge Samuel M. Shay remanded Pernier to jail without bail pending sentence. He faces a sentence of from three to seven years in prison.
12 Questioned, 2 Men Held in Murder Probe
Camden Evening Courier —
COLSEY LEADS CITY-WIDE HUNT FOR BANDIT KILLERS OF COP
Comrades Eager to Avenge Feitz, Shot 4 Times in Back at Holdup
ORLANDO CONDUCTS OWN INVESTIGATION
Mad Scramble of 20 to Escape Tragedy Scene Described by Sleuth
The greatest man-hunt in the history of the Camden police department was under way today to apprehend the murderers of Detective William T. Feitz, slain early yesterday when he surprised bandits holding up 20 persons in a South Camden disorderly house.
Feitz, recently promoted from a patrolman, was shot four times in the back as he attempted to reach the front door of the establishment at 243 Sycamore street to summon aid.
Police today said they “had a pretty good idea” as to the identity of his slayers, although none has been charged with the crime.
A “mystery blonde” was arrested in the case early today in Atlantic City by Detective Stanley Wertz [sic]. Police refused to reveal her name and will not allow anyone to talk to her.
A man, first believed to have been the trigger-man, arrested in Philadelphia early today, was released by police after a few minutes’ questioning.
Two men are being held “incommunicado” in connection with the case, while a dozen material witnesses were being questioned at detective headquarters.
Probe Rushed
The investigation into the shooting, begun within a few minutes of the slaying continued throughout the day and night without a break.
Police Chief Arthur Colsey took personal command of the probe with Detective Lieut. George Ward and Detective Sergeant Gus Koerner.
Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando, who “sat in” yesterday as police questioned a score of witnesses, stated this morning he will open his own investigation today. He intimated “new developments” may throw a startling light on the case.
Feitz’ slayers escaped as 20 inmates and frequenters of the alleged disorderly house scrambled mainly for freedom beneath the eyes of Detective Joseph H. Leonhardt, who sat outside the place in a police radio car.
Leonhardt told his superiors he was so startled by the shooting he failed to act until after the slayers had escaped.
Feitz and Leonhardt had driven to the scene in the radio car, after trailing a suspicious sedan for 15 minutes through a maze of South Camden streets.
Followed 3 Men
The sedan had stopped near the Sycamore street place and three of the men had entered the dwelling. Feitz followed and Leonhardt remained in the car.
Mrs. Emma Heisler, 38, alleged proprietress of the house, and Cornelius Murphy, 50, doorkeeper, headed a list of 14 witnesses held by police for questioning or as material witnesses.
Murphy was booked early today as a material witness, with Thomas Bonelli, 27, of 207 Walnut street; Edward Grapatin, 32, of 246 Kaighn avenue; Joseph McKenna, 30, and Catherine Lougheed, 32, an inmate, and Edith Miller and Edna Butler, colored domestics employed by Mrs. Heisler.
Joseph Powell, 25, former Camden boxer, and Stanley, his brother, were the two men held incommunicado. Police refused to reveal what connection either had with the murder, although stating they were merely being held pending investigation.
Feitz died five minutes after being admitted to West Jersey Homeopathic hospital, where he was taken by Leonardt [sic] and McKenna, who stopped in his flight from the house to assist the wounded policeman. Three .32-calibre slugs were buried in his back and a fourth had pierced his wrist.
Lieutenant Ward today clamped down on news of the investigation, ordering all detectives and police to refuse information to news reporters.
Orlando said he would make known facts in the case known to him later today.
The Heisler woman, said by police to be the sister-in-law of Patrolman Thomas Cheeseman, recently demoted city detective, was not booked on the police docket this morning, but Ward declared he was not through questioning her and that she would be “booked” later in the day.
Several of the witnesses made their escape from the vicinity of the shooting in Powell’s car, police stated, one of whom was the mysterious woman arrested early today in Atlantic City.
Supreme Court Justice Frank T. Lloyd last night declared the case would be investigated by the September Grand Jury. It will not, he said, assume more importance in that body’s deliberations than the numbers racket.
Note Lack of Noise
Investigators were at a loss to understand why Feitz and Leonhardt, seated in an automobile on a quiet side street within 20 feet of where a holdup was taking place, did not hear any accompanying sounds. The belief was expressed that 20 men and women, being robbed, would become hysterical and noisy. The Sycamore street house is a ramshackle, two-story structure, with no vestibule leading into the parlor. There is no porch.
Powell drove first to the Lougheed woman’s home, where Mrs. Heisler, the Lougheed woman and Grapatin alighted. He then drove to Atlantic City with the unidentified girl, he said.
Police, advised of Powell’s presence in the house, dispatched the license number of his green sedan over the police teletype system.
Powell was apprehended at Folsom, 40 miles from Camden, as he was returning to Camden from Atlantic City. Sergeant Albert T. Varreiman of the Mt. Ephraim state police barracks stopped Powell’s machine and took him into custody. Powell was alone.
Feitz’s murder was a climax to half an hour’s scrutiny by him and Leonhardt into the suspicious actions of the four bandits. A car in which they were riding was sighted in the neighborhood by the two detectives at 2 a. m.
Trailed Car Fifteen Minutes
They trailed it in their police car for 15 minutes, as it wound through the narrow streets, repeatedly passing the Sycamore street house. Finally, the detectives saw the bandits park their machine on Locust street. Three of them emerged, walked down Sycamore street, and entered the house.
According to Leonhardt, neither he nor Feitz obtained the license number of the bandit car.
Upon seeing them enter the place, Leonhardt drove the police car around the block and stopped in front of the house.
Feitz and Leonhardt sat outside in their machine for 15 minutes. Finally, Leonhardt said, Feitz opened the door and stepped to the sidewalk.
“I’m going in there and see what’s going on,” he said.
Turning, he walked up the steps and rang the doorbell. Leonhardt said the door was opened after a short pause, and Feitz entered. The door was closed.
Hears Bandits’ Guns
Almost immediately, Leonhardt heard the muffled roar of the bandits’ revolvers. Feitz’s body came flying through the door. Pandemonium followed. As the persons in the house fled, neighbors came to doors and windows. Almost immediately, the street was filled.
Leonhardt was so shocked he was unable to drive. An unnamed witness drove the police car with Feitz’s body in it to the hospital.
Prosecutor Orlando indicated his office will step into the probe today.
Shooting Reconstructed
With the aid of witnesses, police yesterday were able to reconstruct the shooting.
“Feitz walked into the house just as the three bandits were holding up the inmates,” Detective Gus Koerner said.
“Witnesses say that when the doorbell rang, the three bandits conferred briefly and decided to admit whoever was at the door. They thought it was another frequenter.
“’Let him in; we’ll take his money too,’ one of the witnesses said a bandit ordered.
One of the bandits went to the door, opened it and admitted Feitz. The detective took five steps into the living room, pausing at the door of the dining room, where he was recognized by a bandit who was frisking the inmates.
“This bandit shouted: ‘It’s a dick; let ‘im have it!’”
Shot in Back
As Feitz reached for his revolver, the man who had admitted him shot him in the back. Feitz attempted to reach the front door, apparently to call Leonhardt, and three more slugs tore into his body.
“It is not known whether the shooting was done by only one of the bandits, or whether all three fired. We do not know whether Feitz opened the front door himself and fell to the street; whether he fell through the glass, or whether the bandits opened the door and pushed him to the street.
“The glass in the front door was broken later by police, who struck it with their blackjacks in order to gain admittance. Leonhardt told me he is unable to clear up this point as everything happened too quickly.
“He said he suddenly heard shots, and a moment later, saw Feitz’ body on the pavement.”
One of the bandit’s bullets went wild, imbedding itself in the wall near the front door. It was fired from the dining room. Ballistics tests will be made of the bullet.
City-wide Raids Follow
Under the direction of Detective Lieut. George Ward, Camden was subjected yesterday and last night to a fine tooth-combing for suspects. All police leaves were cancelled, and all patrolmen volunteered to do active duty until some results of the probe are forthcoming.
A series of raids on known disorderly houses resulted last night in the arrests of more than 20 persons all of whom were taken to police headquarters and lined up for the perusal of witnesses. It was not known whether this scrutiny brought results.
Chief Colsey declared last night the murder will be the signal for an intensive “cleanup” of the city. Policemen in patrol cars were dispatched on prowl duty, ordered to pick up everyone of a suspicious nature.
City officials and citizens voiced their regrets at the killing. Feitz was the father of two children, a boy and a girl. Their names could not be obtained last night. He was estranged from his wife, who resides in Cape May with the children.
Woman Questioned
Mrs. Heisler, regarded by police as a key witness, was questioned several hours in detective headquarters by Chief Colsey, Ward, Orlando and Koerner. The officers refused to disclose the results of the quiz.
No adequate description of the bandits could be furnished by any of the witnesses, Koerner said. Two were described as being of average height, one taller. Two were dark, the third blond.
None of the three was masked. Each was armed.
Mrs. Heisler and Murphy were held without bail as material witnesses. Powell, accompanied by Camden detectives, left for Atlantic City to show them where he dropped off the unidentified girl inmate of the house. They had not returned at a late hour last night.
According to Murphy, two of the bandits previously had visited the house as patrons, and at one time attempted to “shake down” Mrs. Heisler. She resisted their demands, Murphy declared.
Other persons arrested as material witnesses who, after hours of questioning were released in their own recognizance, include:
Frank Adams, 21, of 938 Atlantic avenue; Joseph MacDonald, 20, of 1605 South Sixth street; Henry Gorba, 19, of 17 North Twenty-first street and Edward McKenna, 31, of 1304 Broadway.
Edith Miller, 28, colored, of 205 Sycamore street, and Edna Butler, 32, also colored, 1122 South Second street, also were arrested and held as witnesses. They are inmates of the house, Koerner said.
Police said the bandits, in their search for booty, forced their victims to remove their shoes during the holdup to ascertain whether they were concealing any money. Only $8 was taken.
An autopsy performed on Feitz’ body yesterday by Coroner Arthur H. Holl and County Physician Edward B. Rogers showed that two of the bullets had penetrated the detective’s body. Coroner Holl, in whose undertaking establishment the detective’s body lay last night, declared death was virtually instant.
Chief Colsey last night denied Feitz and Leonhardt were acting under orders to watch the Sycamore street house.
“There have been general orders out to clean up all disorderly houses for a long time,” Colsey said. “I imagine the detectives were more interested in what the four men were doing than they were in the house. I talked at great length with Leonhardt and he told me neither he nor Feitz knew the place was a disorderly house.”
Leonhardt could not be reached last night to give his version of the affair. Colsey said Leonhardt was taking an active part in police efforts to solve the crime.
“If I had known the house in Sycamore street was a disorderly house,” Colsey said, “I would of course have ordered it raided long ago.”
Feitz and Leonhardt were assigned to detective duty from the uniformed ranks last week, replacing former Detectives Thomas Cheeseman and Vernon Jones, who are now reduced to rank of patrolmen.
Chief Colsey said the reason Cheeseman and Jones were reduced was “merely for the good of the department.” He would not amplify that statement.
According to Detective Rox Saponare, Cheeseman is the brother-in-law of Mrs. Heisler, charged with operating the house. Cheeseman, also active in the investigation of the killing, could not be reached last night to comment.
Commended for Bravery
Feitz was appointed to the police force March 1, 1928. He was appointed to the detective bureau last week by Mayor Roy R. Stewart. In 1931, Feitz was commended for bravery in arresting three men in a holdup at a chain grocery store at Locust street and Kaighn avenue.
Last week, the same store was robbed, and Feitz arrested three other men for the theft.
Leonhardt, 39, resides at 512 Division street. The last arrest he made in company with Feitz was at 12.45 a. m. the morning of Feitz’ death. The officers nabbed Cecilia Spencer, 28, colored, at 806 Locust street, a block from the Sycamore street house, on charges of soliciting.
Chief Colsey and other city officials reached Feitz’ bedside in the hospital too late to see him alive. The officer died without regaining consciousness. Funeral arrangements were not completed last night.
Before the estrangement from his wife two years ago, Feitz lived with her and their children at 1062 Langham avenue. He resided recently at the Liberty street address with his widowed mother, Mrs. Pauline Feitz, who last night was prostrated at the news of her son’s death.
Chief Colsey last night absolved Leonhardt of any negligence in not chasing the killers. The police chief declared Leonhardt’s first duty was to look to the condition of Feitz.
Chief Colsey said Mayor Stewart, vacationing in Ocean City, will not return until tomorrow morning. Any investigation into possible negligence on the part of police in permitting the Sycamore street house to operate will be conducted after the mayor returns, Colsey said.
“I consider it more important at this time to lend all our efforts toward solving the crime rather than in conducting any side-bar probe into the question of negligence by any policemen,” Colsey said.
Colsey and Detectives at Murder Scene and 2 Held for Quiz
Camden Evening Courier —
[Six photographs; the headline above them is the only printed text.]
Stewart Says Laxity on Vice Will Be Probed
Camden Evening Courier —
Pushes Inquiry in Killing With Chief Colsey Lending Co-operation
WHOLESALE CHANGES LIKELY IN DEPARTMENT
Chief Executive Refers to Official Who Scored Lashing of Cops
A wholesale shakeup of police officials, patrolmen and detectives in the Camden police department is expected to follow the slaying of District Detective William T. Feitz, in a South Camden disorderly house.
That was indicated strongly today by Mayor Roy R. Stewart, director of the department of public safety, after his return from a weekend vacation at Ocean City.
“I intend to get at the bottom of this matter and punish the guilty person or persons,” Mayor Stewart declared upon his arrival at city hall.
“There is something wrong in the police department when no action is taken against a disorderly house which I ordered closed on numerous occasions.
Blames Police
“If the police in the department had followed my instructions we wouldn’t have a dead detective as a consequence of their laxity.
“Chief Colsey and myself are going into the investigation very thooughly [sic] to find out who was responsible for failing to close this place.”
Questioned as to whether the killing of Detective Feitz would bring shifts in district commanders, sergeants, patrolmen and detectives, Mayor Stewart said:
“Yes—anything can happen—for I’m not satisfied with the actions of the department.”
Mayor Stewart also disclosed that since his charge of laxity against the police department, he has been criticized by at least one city official—whose name he would not make public.
“I’ve been told that as head of the department of public safety I shouldn’t make such a statement as I did yesterday because of the effect it would have on the morale of the police department.
Will Shield None
“Well, I want it to be known that I am not guilty of shielding anyone in the operation of this disorderly house. I have a right to protect anyone in the department who is not involved in this violation of my orders and that is what I intend to do in my investigation.”
Mayor Stewart’s first move when he reached his offices was to call Chief Colsey into conference to discuss the events leading up to the death of Detective Feitz early Sunday in the disorderly house allegedly operated by Mrs. Emma Heisler, 38, at 243 Sycamore street.
Later, he announced, he would confer with the district and detective lieutenants and sergeants to find out why his orders issued a number of times to close up Mrs. Heisler’s establishment, were not carried out. The conference, Mayor Stewart indicated, would take place this afternoon.
To Quiz Demoted Pair
Two district detectives who were demoted and returned to beats a few days before Detective Feitz was killed, who covered the neighborhood of Second and Sycamore streets, are also to be grilled by Mayor Stewart. One of the detectives, according to police, is a relative of Mrs. Heisler.
While Mayor Stewart and Chief Colsey were conferring, police and detectives still were engaged in running down clues to the identity of the slayers of the detective who was shot when he walked in on a holdup of 20 persons in the disorderly house.
Three bandits who shot Feitz then rushed out the door and directly past District Detective Joseph H. Leonhardt who was bending over Feitz’s body which had hurtled through the front door and dropped down the steps to the street.
The two detectives in a police radio car had been trailing a suspicious car containing the bandits for some time prior to the shooting [text between crops not shown]
Colsey Speaks Freely
Chief Colsey unlike Detective Lieutenant Ward who has persistently refused to talk to newspapermen or give them any information, spoke freely about the police investigation of Feitz’s death.
“I feel confident that within a few days we will have the killer or killers of Feitz under arrest,” Chief Colsey said.
He admitted that all of the suspects arrested here, in Philadelphia and Atlantic City to date had not been identified as members of the bandit mob.
A suspect who was arrested last night by Chief Colsey and a detective in cruising about the city was released after being questioned.
Another suspect arrested early today was still being held by the police, who refused to reveal his identity. Chief Colsey stated that he did not think the man was involved in the killing of Feitz.
8 Still Held
However, four men and four women are being held in cells at police headquarters as material witnesses.
Only seven are listed on the police blotter, the name of Mrs. Heisler being omitted. The others are Thomas Bonelli, 27, of 207 Walnut street; Cornelius Murphy, 50, of 239 Sycamore street, said by police to have been the doorman of Mrs. Heisler’s establishment; Edward Grapatin, 32, of 246 Kaighn avenue; Joseph McKenna, 31, of 1404 Broadway; Edith Miller, 28, colored, of 205 Sycamore street, and Edna Butler, 33, colored, of 1122 South Second street, domestics in Mrs. Heisler’s place; Catherine Lougheed, 32, of 626 Pine street, an alleged inmate.
Released after being held as material witnesses were Edward Gorba, 20, and his brother, Henry, 19, of 17 North Twenty-first street; Frank Adams, 21, of 938 Atlantic avenue, and Joseph McDonald, 20, of 1605 South Ninth street. All were released in their own recognizance to appear tomorrow.
All of the persons taken into custody after the shooting, were in the disorderly house at the time, police said.
Police disclosed that Ed Gorba was the only eye-witness to the killing who was proving of any value in remembering the description of the killers or in attempting to identify suspects arrested.
As Police Vizualize Slaying of Detective
Camden Evening Courier —
Artist’s X-ray view of alleged disorderly house at 243 Sycamore street shows three rooms on ground floor. In the front room, without vestibule, at left, Detective William T. Feitz was shot in back by bandit when he turned to door to call for help after surprising hold-up of patrons and inmates in middle room. According to the police, two of the three bandits frisked the victims of the hold-up in the middle room while a third guarded those who were passed into the rear room after they were robbed. On the street, at extreme left, is shown the police car in which Feitz’ partner, Detective Joseph H. Leonhardt, remained outside while Feitz entered the house.
Lieut. Bakley and 11 Police Suspended in Feitz Inquiry
Camden Evening Courier —
3 Sergeants Included in List Set Down by Chief Colsey
JUSTICE LLOYD JOINS PROBE INTO MURDER
Chief of Police Arthur Colsey at noon today announced the indefinite suspension of Lieut. Ralph Bakley, commander of the Second district of Camden police, and 11 other policemen in connection with the investigation into the killing of Detective William T. Feitz.
The full list of those suspended is as follows:
Lieut. Ralph Bakley, Sergt. John Garrity, Sergt. Walter Mattison, Acting Sergt. Edward Leonard, Sergt. Richard Cornog, Policemen George Weber, Joseph Leonhardt, Leon Branch, Thomas Cheeseman, Frank Wilmont [sic], John Houston and Vernon Jones.
Supreme Court Justice Frank T. Lloyd today entered the investigation into the murder of District Detective William T. Feitz in an alleged South Camden disorderly house Sept. 2.
The jurist, upon returning from his Summer vacation at Seaside Park, called an immediate conference with Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando of Camden county and Police Chief Arthur Colsey of this city.
Although no confirmation could be obtained officially, it was learned from authoritative sources that Justice Lloyd would take up the charges made earlier in the week by Prosecutor Orlando that graft and corruption exist in the Camden police.
May Probe Suicide
The jurist was also expected to delve into the unusual circumstances surrounding the death of Mrs. Emma Heisler, 38, alleged operator of the disorderly house where Feitz met his death at 243 Sycamore street.
Mrs. Heisler, who was detained in the Camden detective bureau at the order of Detective Lieutenant George Ward instead of being locked in a cell, jumped from the fifth floor window of Ward’s office September 4 while two detectives assigned to guard her were nearby.
The progress of the police investigation into the killing of Feitz, whom police declare was shot when he surprised three bandits in the act of holding up 20 inmates and patrons, will be presented by both Prosecutor Orlando and Chief Colsey.
Mickey Blair to Give Up
Mickey Blair, boxer whose real name is Michael Tenerelli, 25, who has been living in New York City, but whose Camden address is 833 South Fourth street, is to be surrendered to Camden police for questioning in connection with the murder of Feitz.
He has been sought by detectives for grilling since a few hours after the shooting of Feitz.
His attorney, Edward V. Martino, of 540 Cooper street, notified Chief Colsey today that he would surrender Tenerelli or Blair to the police in his office at 1 p.m.
“Mickey knows absolutely nothing about the killing of Feitz,” Martino told newspapermen. “Learning through a friend that police were seeking him for questioning, he called me Saturday night and asked me to ascertain the facts.”
“I learned that police wanted to talk to him and telephoned him to that effect in New York City where he has been staying for the past few weeks. He later called me back and told me that he would be in Camden at 1 p.m. today.”
‘Attended Funeral’
Martino revealed that Tenerelli or Blair said he had been in Camden prior to the killing of Feitz and also on Labor Day, the day following the shooting of the detective. He was here to attend the funeral of a brother-in-law, Martino said.
Neither Chief Colsey or other police or detective officials would comment upon what they hoped to learn from Tenerelli that might bring an early solution of the murder and lead to the arrest of the killers.
Prosecutor Orlando at the conference with Justice Lloyd in his City Hall-Court House offices, was to present a complete report on the murder of the detective together with statements obtained from all persons who figured in the crime.
Will Probe Numbers
Prosecutor Orlando stepped in and assumed nominal charge of the investigation last Thursday when he ordered police to submit to him all reports and statements of witnesses. However it was learned that the police are still directing the search for the killers.
The conference between Justice Lloyd, Prosecutor Orlando and Chief Colsey comes on the eve of swearing in the September Grand Jury tomorrow at which time the grand jurors wil [sic] be ordered among other issues, to probe into the “numbers” racket in Camden county.
Feitz Funeral Photographs
Camden Evening Courier —
Police officials and fellow officers of Detective William T. Feitz, Jr., slain last Sunday in a disorderly house in Sycamore street, attended the funeral services Saturday. Top photo shows pall-bearers removing Feitz’s body from the undertaking establishment of Coroner Arthur H. Holl at left. The pall-bearers, left to right, are Patrolmen Joseph Leonhardt, Feitz’ companion the night he was slain; Otto Taperscer, Delaware Palmer, William Weaver and Paul Jackson. Lower photo shows police officials at the services. Left to right, Lt. Herbert Anderson, Chief Colsey, Lt. Ralph Bakely, E. Howard Broome, secretary to Mayor Stewart, and Lt. George Ward.
Grand Jury Vice Probe to Be Ordered by Lloyd; Stewart Quizzes Cops
Camden Evening Courier —
FEITZ MURDER, CITY GRAFTING TO FACE INQUIRY
Action Follows Parley With Orlando and Mayor on Conditions
MORE SUSPENSIONS OF POLICE INTIMATED
Mickey Blair Quizzed on Detective’s Killing; Stewart Warns, ‘Clean Up’
Questioned in Feitz Murder
Michael Tenerelli, 25, known in pugilistic circles as Mickey Blair, is shown above during a lull in the questioning by detectives investigating the murder of District Detective William Feitz. Tenerelli surrendered to police yesterday and on order of Prosecutor Orlando was held without bail on charges of being a material witness and with conspiracy in a robbery in connection with the holdup in progress in the South Camden alleged disorderly house at the time Feitz was shot.
Ward Reported on Way Out as Detective Chief
Reports around Camden police and detective headquarters today were to the effect that Lieutenant George Ward was on “his way out” as head of the Detective Bureau.
Dissatisfaction with the manner in which both police and detectives have handled the investigation so far into the Feitz murder will result in Mayor Stewart, director of public safety, ordering a change in detective chiefs today, it was authoritatively learned.
Lieutenant Herbert Anderson, commander of the First Police District, will succeed Lieutenant Ward as it was reported, the latter being sent back to that police precinct which he formerly commanded.
“A sweeping investigation of all phases of “crime” in Camden County, will be the first order given the new September Grand Jury today after it is sworn in at Camden Courthouse by Supreme Court Justice Frank T. Lloyd.
That was the decision reached by Justice Lloyd after three hours of separate conferences with Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando, of Camden County, and Mayor Roy R. Stewart, director of public safety. During the conferences held in Justice Lloyd’s offices at City Hall-Courthouse, the murder of District Detective William T. Feitz, alleged graft and corruption in the Camden police department and protected vice were thoroughly discussed.
Today, Mayor Stewart, who has inaugurated his own personal investigation of existing conditions in the police department, continued to question and take statements from police officials, patrolmen and detectives. Twenty-three patrolmen and detectives were ordered before the mayor yesterday in addition to the 12 others who were indefinitely suspended by order of Police Chief Arthur Colsey.
Tenerelli Quizzed
Michael Tenerelli, 25, also known as Mickey Blair, former Camden lightweight boxer, was still being questioned at police headquarters in connection with the murder of Detective Feitz. Tenerelli who surrendered to police here yesterday after returning from New York, is booked as a material witness and on a charge of conspiracy in a robbery. Both charges were ordered placed against Tenerelli by Prosecutor Orlando who has assumed direct charge of the investigation. He is being held without bail.
Seven other men and women taken into custody by police after the shooting of Feitz in the alleged disorderly house operated by the late Mrs. Emma Heisler at 243 Sycamore street, were to have been arraigned in Camden Police Court today on orders of Prosecutor Orlando and then turned over to the county authorities. Bail, Prosecutor Orlando declared, would be “sufficiently high” to insure their later appearances when wanted.
However there were no appearances of material witnesses or others in the Feitz investigation before Judge J. Harry Switzer in Camden Police Court during its session today and it was unofficially reported that the prosecutor had changed his plans.
Police Chief Colsey warned all detectives and patrolmen in the department that further suspensions will follow justified complaints of vice anywhere in the city limits if it can be traced to police neglect.
Chief Colsey also admitted that the 12 patrolmen and detectives suspended yesterday on his orders, will receive no pay as long as their suspensions last.
In addition to Lieutenant Bakley, Sergeant Cornog and Acting Sergeant Leonard, the others suspended include Sergeant Walter Mattison of police headquarters; Sergeant John Garrity, District Detective Joseph H. Leonhardt who was with Feitz when he was shot; Patrolmen Leon Branch, George Weber, Thomas Cheeseman, Frank Wilmot, John Houston and Vernon Jones, all attached to the Second district station.
Interviews Police
Three of the suspended officers, Mayor Stewart revealed, were among those interrogated yesterday. They are Lieut. Ralph A. Bakley, commander of the Second Police District or Division “H” in which territory the alleged disorderly house existed where Feitz was fatally shot; Sergeant Richard Cornog and Acting [lines between the bottom of crop 15 and the top of crop 16 are not captured in the scanned crops]
Edwin Andrews, Winslow township; Joseph Dougherty, 140 Prospect avenue, Merchantville.
William Tomlinson, Glendale, Voorhees township; Edmund S. Stafford, 546 Stevens street; Harry Buffington, 123 East Clinton avenue, Oaklyn; Samuel A. Dobbins, 2599 Baird boulevard; Charles H. Thatcher, 129 Kendall boulevard, Oaklyn; Richard S. Thompson, East Zane avenue, Collingswood; Benjamin F. Stemmer, 420 Third Avenue, Haddon Heights; Horace J. Harvey, 721 Amherst avenue, Audubon; H. B. Cox, Evesham avenue, Voorhees township; Dr. Walter F. Wood, Collingswood; John W. Underwood, 801 Cumberland street, Gloucester; Clarence Alloway, Blackwood; Charles A. McWilliams, Blackwood; Louis G. Clark, Barrington; Albert J. Cline, 18 East Crystal Lake avenue, Westmont; Robert Bushbeck, First avenue, Pine Hill, Harry Burkhardt, Bell road, Mt. Ephraim; George T. Schuster, 223 Woodland terrace, Collingswood; Chesley L. Hutchins, 711 Market street, Gloucester and Otto Vierling, Evergreen avenue, Runnemede.
The order of Justice Lloyd for a wide grand jury probe of crime follows upon a decision he made 10 days ago to have the same body open an investigation into the “numbers” racket in Camden city and county. At that time he declared he did not believe any graft or corruption existed in the Camden police department in connection with the operation of the lottery game here.
Tenerelli was identified, Colsey said, as a frequenter of Mrs. Emma Heisler’s disorderly house at 243 Sycamore street, where Feitz was killed, and was booked as a material witness in the Feitz murder, and on a charge of “shaking down” Mrs. Heisler by force, prior to the murder.
Unlike Mrs. Heisler, who leaped to her death after 60 hours freedom in the detective bureau, Blair was slapped without bail into the “cold storage” or incommunicado cell in the bureau.
Blair, after surrendering to Colsey, was sent to the “downstairs” jail and kept there until about 4 p. m. yesterday. Then he was questioned for an hour and a half by Prosecutor Orlando and Colsey.
Blair denied all knowledge of the murder, Colsey said, after the grilling ceased, but added that two inmates of Mrs. Heisler’s house, whom he would not identify, named Blair as one of several men who had come several times to Mrs. Heisler’s place, attempted to extort money from her and, failing, had “held up the place” or a “shakedown.”
This coincided with the statement of Detective Sergeant Gus Koerner, on the day Feitz was killed, that the place had been held up several times, and Mrs. Heisler, because of the nature of her occupation, would not report the holdups.
Prosecutor Orlando, subsequently, had stated that Feitz met death in an attempt to block a “shake-down” holdup of the place.
Boxer Is Identified
Both the inmates of Mrs. Heisler’s place, held incommunicado, looked at Blair in the new detective bureau “lineup” room and identified him as a shakedown visitor, but said he was not in the house on the night of the murder, Colsey said.
The chief then was asked if he believes friends of Blair staged the fatal shake-down and killed Feitz, and replied:
“That’s what we want to know. We don’t know yet. But we are getting somewhere and will solve this case.”
The two inmates of the Heisler house were brought back to the lineup room a second time, took another look at Blair through the screen that made him a “high-lighted” figure and prevented him from seeing them and reaffirmed their previous statements, Colsey said.
Upon the suspension of the twelve members of the force and the installation of a new acting second district commander and new acting sergeants to relieve those suspended, Chief Colsey said he issued the following order to the entire department:
Calls for Cleanup
“All vice must be eliminated absolutely and entirely in Camden. This means all types of vice, including the numbers racket, gambling houses, disorderly houses, horse-race bookmaking speakeasies and everything else though it may not be specifically enumerated here.
“In the future if any complaint of vice comes in, and is proved to be justified, and is attributable to negligence on the part of any patrolmen of police officer [sic], immediate suspension of the negligent members of the force will follow without exception.”
Chief Colsey also said he will recommend that bail of $2000 be set in all numbers racket cases in future, and that all arrested be held for grand jury action, except in cases where innocent players are brought in.
‘Prompted by Facts’
In making public the suspensions of the policemen, Chief Colsey said his action was “prompted by facts” uncovered during the course of his investigation.
In announcing the taking over of the murder investigation, Prosecutor Orlando said:
“As a result of my conference with Justice Lloyd it has been decided that the prosecutor’s office from this time on will take charge of the murder investigation.
“In doing so, however, it does not mean that the city police will cease acting in the matter and will act with just as much zeal as is within their command in bringing about the apprehension of those responsible.
“This investigation has been taken over by this office by reason of the policy assumed in other murder investigations. Hereafter all murder investigations in Camden county will be under the supervision of the prosecutor’s office and at the same time through co-ordinated efforts of this office and the police department of the particular community where the murder takes place.
“As far as developments are concerned, there is nothing new in the case except the arrest of Mickey Blair, who was surrendered by his counsel and who is in the custody of the police until he is committed.”
Lieutenant Walter Welch in command of the Third Police District was assigned by Chief Colsey to replace Lieutenant Bakley and make the suspensions of all sergeants and patrolmen in that precinct effective immediately. Sergeant John Potter of the Third District was named an acting lieutenant to replace Lieutenant Welch as commander of that precinct.
Welch said he will instruct every policeman under his new command that he must work in harmony with earnest efforts to stamp out vice.
“If they do not do this,” Welch said, “I do not want them. They will be of no use to me. They know what to expect if they fail to cooperate. My efforts will be directed to maintaining order without vice in the Second district, just as I have done in the Third.”
Bribery Charged by Grand Jurors
Camden Courier-Post —
26 Other Persons Named in 111 True Bills on Numbers
KLOSTERMANS TO FACE TRIAL
A bumper crop of 111 indictments was returned yesterday by the September vice probing grand jury against alleged numbers operators alone.
In addition, Mickey Blair, free on bail as a material witness in the slaying of Detective William T. Feitz was indicted on a charge of conspiracy to rob Mrs. Emma Heisler, in whose house Feitz was slain.
The 111 numbers indictments were aimed at 26 individuals, including Fred and Joe Klosterman, long known as numbers barons. Each of the brothers was indicted on six counts of engaging in the lottery business and on 12 additional indictments charging sale of lottery tickets.
The complete list of true bills were handed up to Judge Frank F. Neutze of the Camden County Common Pleas Court.
The numbers indictments follows [sic]:
Engaged in lottery business—Antonio Macio, 2125 Haddonfield road, Pennsauken township, one count; Fred Klosterman and brother, Joseph, Mt. Ephraim avenue and Mechanic street, six counts each.
Selling lottery tickets—Geneva Harden, beauty parlor operator in Pennsauken township, ten counts; Marshall Howard, 1912 Derousse avenue, Delair, 10 counts; Frank Martz, 235 Erie street, Camden, two counts; Arthur Woodridge, 7910 Park avenue, Pennsauken township, two counts; Albert Young, 519 North Second street, Camden, one count; Andrew Pointkowski, 1475 South Ninth street, six counts; Crawford Smith, 702 Carman street, five counts; Charles Simonin, 709 Fairview street, Camden, five counts; John Studinger, 2504 Federal street, Camden, 10 counts; Lucille Barber, 8302 Park avenue, Pennsauken township, two counts; Samuel Ford, 1124 South Ninth street, two counts; John Geronio, 1042 Cooper street, one count; James Davis, 100 Mt. Vernon street, Camden, one count; Oscar Conway, 2803 Mitchell street, one count; John Barnes, 7805 Pleasant avenue, Pennsauken, two counts; Nathan Boston, Parry, Burlington county, one count.
James Gantt, 8302 Park avenue, Pennsauken, two counts; Mary Angelo, 600 Pine street, two counts; Thomas Kirk, 935 Carpenter street, two counts; Samuel Kane, 211 Walnut street, Philadelphia, one count; Samuel Karon, 1528 Mt. Ephraim avenue, one count; Walter Hart, 1245 Thurman street, Camden, five counts; Frank Kulzcnski, 1100 Orchard street, two counts.
The presentment required only three minutes and the grand jury immediately withdrew to its chambers to consider new evidence in its probe of vice and gambling here.
It was indicated that the first batch of indictments found by the grand jury was just that, and that further true bills would be forthcoming as the work of sifting the mass of evidence continues.
A quartet of former city detectives who were transferred to regular police duty June 14, and seven attaches of the county jail were among the list of witnesses subpoenaed.
The erstwhile plainclothesmen are Clarence Arthur, Benjamin Simon, Clifford Del Rossi and Leon Branch. All were put into uniform without explanation, and with the understanding, they declare, that they would not be displaced. All expressed surprise at their removal, inasmuch as others were later appointed to their posts, because they had good records while members of the detective bureau.
Arthur and Branch appeared briefly before the probing body.
Crawford Smith is the brother of Detective Walter Smith and former Detective Howard Smith, it was reported by Mayor Roy R. Stewart.
Michael Tenerelli, known in fistic cicles [sic] as Mickey Blair, was among those waiting in the grand jury anteroom when the jury adjourned to be called before the probers. All those called were subpoenaed on “John Doe” warrants.
Mickey told reporters he has no idea what form of questioning will be followed when he is called into the grand jury room. He was recently released under bail of $5000 as a material witness in the Feitz killing investigation.
Those who could not be heard by the grand jurors before adjournment yesterday were told to come back next Thursday.
Among the witnesses in the vice probe called into the jury room were two Camden county jail attaches, Mrs. Lillian Vincent, matron, and Frank Tyson, jail clerk.
Both were asked questions regarding the proceedure [sic] followed in releasing prisoners from the pail [sic], it was learned. Tyson was not asked by the grand jurors if the prisoners were ever allowed to leave jail before their terms were up, he said.
“We never discharged a prisoner during my long experience in the county jail,” he told reporters, “without the proper release slip. I do not know of any prisoner ever being released before his time was up.”
Other members of the county jail staff waiting to appear were Edmund Powell, former warden; William Kinsler, Walter Taylor, Joseph Rea and John Feitz.
Another witness to testify was Mrs. Anna Smallwood, of Fifth and Chestnut, who posted $5000 bail for Mickey Blair to effect the former boxer’s release in the Feitz murder case.
It is thought that the county jail attaches will be questioned in an endeavour to learn how prisoners are released before time, although confirmation of this report was lacking.
The grand jury also returned indictments against Robert R. Young and Fred H. Schmitz, both of Philadelphia, former employes of the RCA Victor Company, charging them with the theft of four automobile radio sets from the plant on September 19.
Harry Smith, John Lockwood, Edward Troutman and Thomas Moreland, of Camden, were charged with larceny of merchandise from the American Stores Company on August 30.
Stanley Gaisor and Henry Parewicz, both of Camden, were indicted on charges of the theft of an automobile owned by County Physician Edward B. Rogers. The automobile was stolen in Camden, August 31.
Paul Pralas was indicted on charges of atrocious assault and battery on Rocco Piliro on September 19 in Camden.
The following were indicted on charges of desertion and non-support: Cornelius Chambers, charged by his wife, Ethel, with deserting her and three small children.
Thomas Porter, of Clementon, with non-support of his three small children. Frank Drew, Camden, desertion and non-support of his wife, Martha, and three minor children. Walter Butterfield, Brooklawn, with desertion of his wife, Verna, and one minor child. Eugene Morselander, of Camden, with desertion of his wife, Gladys.
2 Speakeasy Owners Paid Hush Money, Graft Probers Hear
COLSEY DROPS ACCUSED MEN
Sixty-two indictments charging six Camden policemen with graft and bribe-taking were returned by the new grand jury yesterday.
The wholesale indictments constituted the first visible results of the probe into Camden’s vice affairs and connection of the police with vice, ordered by Supreme Court Justice Frank T. Lloyd.
They are charged with taking hush money.
Those indicted:
Patrolman Thomas T. Cheeseman, 20 indictments.
Patrolman Vernon Jones, 20 indictments.
Patrolman Howard Fisher, 10 indictments.
Patrolman George Weber, also known as Buck Weaver, 10 indictments.
Detective Joseph Leonhardt, one indictment.
Patrolman Frank Wilmot, one indictment.
All are attached to the Second district except Leonhardt, who was dismissed from the force two weeks ago by Mayor Roy R. Stewardt [sic], and has appealed his case to the Civil Service Commission.
Leonhardt was with Detective William T. Feitz on the night of September 2, when Feitz was slain in Mrs. Emma Heisler’s alleged disorderly house at 243 Sycamore street. He and Feitz had been made district detectives less than a week before the shooting. They had been assigned to the “beat” in which Mrs. Heisler’s house was located, relieving Cheeseman and Jones, who were demoted to patrolmen.
Cheeseman was a brother-in-law of Mrs. Heisler, who leaped to her death from a city hall window while being held as a witness in Feitz’s death.
12 Drew Suspensions
Those indicted, with the exception of Fisher, were among the 12 members of the force suspended by Mayor Stewart in connection with his personal investigation of police connections with vice.
Wilmot, Weber and Jones were returned to duty Wednesday after serving 30-day suspensions.
Cheeseman and Jones are named jointly in nine indictments; jointly with Fisher and Weber in nine other indictments; the four are lister [sic] separately in one set of indictments. Jones and Cheeseman are listed separately in another pair of indictments, while Leonhardt and Wilmot are named in one joint indictment.
Two men, Glenn Brown and Michael Tocco, are named in each indictment as having paid the policemen sums verying [sic] from $5 to $80 since last March. They are reported to be operators of illegal liquor establishments.
Jury Indicts 6 Cops On Vice Graft Charge
Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando announced evidence had been given the grand jury to support charges that each of the men indicted had been accepting graft from racketeers and underworld characters.
The nine indictments against Cheeseman, Jones, Fisher and Weber charge them with having received the sum of $5 from Brown on nine different dates in March and April of this year, for a total of $45.
Cheeseman and Jones are jointly indicted on nine counts for having received from Tocco the sum of $160, in various amounts ranging from $10 to $80 on various dates in May, June and July.
Cheeseman and Jones are each indicted on two separate counts. Jones is charged with having accepted a $40 bribe from Tocco on May 24 and with having received another $5 from Brown on March 3. Cheeseman is indicted for receiving the same sums from the same persons on the same dates.
Fisher is indicted alone on one count of having received a $5 bribe from Brown in March. Weber was also indicted alone for the same offense.
Leonhardt and Wilmot, mentioned in only one indictment, are charged with having accepted $20 from Tocco in March.
Cheeseman has been a member of the police department for 16 years, most of which he served in the capacity of a detective. He was demoted on Sept. 3, 1930, to the rank of a patrolman, but later was again promoted to district detective. Two months ago he was demoted back to patrolman again and has been patrolling a ‘beat’ in South Camden since that time.
Cheeseman Appointed in 1918
Cheeseman is 48. He was appointed to the police force on January 11, 1918, and lives at 249 Rand street. He has served in various capacities since appointment, having been a member of the city vice squad, detective bureau, district detective and patrolman. His rank in the department was listed as a detective, although recently he has been assigned to uniform in South Camden.
Fisher, 42, of 1139 Baring street, was appointed to the force September 29, 1919. He has spent comparatively all of his time in the department as a patrolman in the Second Police district.
Jones is 37 and lives at 1011 South Sixth street. He received his appointment April 27, 1924. He has served on the vice squad, as a detective and plainclothesman. He was recently demoted to a patrolman’s rank.
Leonhardt lives at 553 Division street and is 39. He was appointed a member of the police department on April 25, 1924, two days before Jones. He served until recently as a patrolman, but was promoted to district detective when Jones suffered demotion. He was discharged from the police payroll on September 26 by Mayor Stewart, who said he had gathered evidence against him in his probe of the department which followed the murder of Feitz.
Wilmot is 32 and lives at 201 Kaighn avenue. He was appointed a policeman on July 1, 1928, and has served as a member of the Second district since his appointment.
Weber, 47, of 1369 Princess avenue, was made a member of the force on May 17, 1922. He also has served his entire time as a patrolman in the Second district.
The indictments were presented to Judge Frank F. Neutze in Justice Lloyd’s absence.
Five Are Suspended
Mayor Stewart and Police Chief Arthur Colsey conferred shortly after the indictments were returned.
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and Judge Neutze to grant these men a speedy trial,” the mayor declared, “so that the cases against them will be disposed of and their guilt or innocence established. In this way the community will have the benefit of their services, if they be found not guilty, as soon as possible.”
None of the policemen indicted had been arrested last night.
Chief of County Detectives Lawrence T. Doran said he expects them to surrender today and post such bail as may be set.
Named by Jury
THOMAS CHEESEMAN
VERNON JONES
Twenty indictments against each of these policemen, formerly assigned as detectives to the beat where Detective William T. Feitz was shot to death in a disorderly house, were returned yesterday by the grand jury. Cheeseman and Jones preceded Feitz and Leonhardt, dismissed and also indicted, on the death beat.
Quartet Indicted on Graft Charges
Four of the six policemen indicted yesterday on charges of bribery. They are George Weber, (upper left) also known as “Bucky Weaver”; Frank Witmot [sic] (upper right), Howard Fisher, (lower left), and Joseph Leonhardt, (lower right), who had been dismissed from the police department.
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.
Joseph Leonhardt, Policeman, Dies at 46
Camden Courier-Post —
JOSEPH LEONHARDT, POLICEMAN, DIES AT 46
Joseph Leonhardt, 46, Camden policeman for 18 years, died at 2.15 p. m. yesterday after an illness of a year. A life-long resident of Camden, Mr. Leonhardt lived at 553 Division street. He was pensioned from the force 18 months ago.
Surviving are a son, Charles; three daughters, Mary, Margaret and Mrs. Anita Peyton, all of Camden, a grandson, George Peyton, Jr., and a brother, Frank. His wife died nine years ago.
Funeral services will be held Monday, with solemn requiem mass at 9 a. m. at SS. Peter and Paul Church. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery.