Introduction
Detective William T. Feitz
Detective William T. Feitz was born in 1903 to William and Pauline Anne Feitz in New Jersey. The Feitz family lived at the time of the 1920 Census at 1125 Liberty Street. The elder Feitz worked as a machinist in one of Camden’s shipyards, and in 1919 and 1920 William T. Feitz was working as an apprentice machinist.
William T. Feitz married during the 1920s, but by April of 1930 the marriage had ended, and he had returned to his parents’ house. He joined the Camden Police Department on March 1, 1928. Cited for bravery for breaking up a grocery store robbery at Locust Street and Kaighn Avenue and arresting three suspects, he was promoted to Detective along with Joseph H. Leonhart.
On Sunday, September 2, 1934 Detective Feitz was gunned down from behind while investigating suspicious behavior on the part of three men who had entered a home at 243 Sycamore Street. He was pronounced dead on arrival at West Jersey Hospital. He was survived by his widowed mother, ex-wife, and children.
After an intense investigation, in which many underworld characters including Mickey Blair and Felix Bocchicchio were questioned, an arrest was finally made. Charles Zied, an associate of the notorious Mais-Leganza gang was arrested in Philadelphia, tried and convicted of the murder of Detective Feitz. Zied was executed in New Jersey’s electric chair on June 2, 1936.
National Law Enforcement Memorial
In great part due to the efforts of this website, Lieutenant Scott Thompson of the Camden Police Department, and other members of Camden’s Finest, Detective William T. Feitz, the first Camden police officer to lose his life during the performance of his duties, was inscribed along with 414 other law enforcement officers on the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington DC. These men were honored in a candlelight vigil on May 13.
Discussions also took place to see that Detective Feitz’s name be added to the Camden NJ Police Memorial at Federal Street and Haddon Avenue.
1109 to 1125 Liberty Street
1109 to 1125 Liberty Street — Detective William T. Feitz, first Camden police officer to fall in the line of duty, lived at 1125 Liberty Street. Photograph May 6, 2004.
Camden Morning Post – December 12, 1930
Store Robber Given 10 Years in Prison
STORE ROBBER GIVEN 10 YEARS IN PRISON.
Case of Companion Will Be Put Before Grand Jury This Week.
Floyd Alter Bell, 36, alias "Twenty," of 1719 Van Buren street, Philadelphia, was sentenced to 10 years in state's prison yesterday by Judge Shay in Criminal Court on charges of robbery and carrying a gun.
Bell pleaded guilty to robbing the Star Beef Company, Sixth street and Kaighn avenue, on September 12, the charge on which he was sentenced to seven years. According to Prosecutor Clifford A. Baldwin, Bell and Frank M. Bank, 19, of 717 Baxter street, Camden, robbed the store of sausages, ham and other food stuffs, loaded them on a truck and escaped.
Both were arrested December 1 by Policemen Rheim and Feitz after the car they are alleged to have stolen from Railroad avenue and Van Hook street struck a pole at Sixth street and Kaighn avenue.
The case of Bank will be presented to the grand jury this week, Baldwin said. Bell, according to the prosecutor, confessed to committing several holdups in Camden and vicinity since July 1. Hams stolen from the beef concern were sold at $1 each in the Eighth Ward, $23 being collected.
Camden Courier-Post – June 15, 1932
Two Camden Schools Ransacked by Thieves
TWO CAMDEN SCHOOLS RANSACKED BY THIEVES
Vandals who entered and ransacked two South Camden schools are being sought by the police.
Del Duca Is Freed in Mystery Shots
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier –
Former Cafe Owner Denies Revolver Was Fired 5 Times From Car
Garfield Del Duca, former owner of the Ringside Inn and the Embassy Cafe on Federal Street near Second was released early today after being questioned regarding shots reported to have been fired from his automobile.
Policemen William Feitz and Clarence Phifer said they heard what they believed to be five gunshots as Del Duca’s car passed Broadway and Walnut Street shortly before 1:00 AM. There were two men in the rear seat, they said.
By the time Feitz and Phifer caught up to Del Duca’s machine in their own car, it was parked at Second and Line Street. Del Duca was sitting in the front seat. No one was in the rear but the officers said the rear doors were open.
Del Duca was taken to headquarters where he denied any knowledge of firing or even hearing shots. There was no gun in his machine and after questioning Del Duca was freed at 2:15 AM by Detective Sergeant Rox Saponare.
Two women, Katherine Blake, 30, and Margaret Huston, 30, both of 524 Spruce Street, who were walking on Broadway at the time of the alleged shots, also said they heard nothing when questioned at headquarters. They were allowed to go after questioning.
Two men reported seen in front of the Lyric Theatre just before Del Duca’s car passed, disappeared before they could be interrogated by the police, Feitz said.
Camden Courier-Post – June 19, 1934
5 Men and Woman Held in P.S. Bus Barn Holdup, Marlton Bank Robbery
5 MEN AND WOMAN HELD IN P.S. BUS BARN HOLDUP, MARLTON BANK ROBBERY
Four of Notorious 'Forty'
COPS ARREST 4 IN PHILA. HOTEL COUNTING CASH
Camden Police to Seek Extradition of Gang at Hearing Thursday
LICENSE NUMBER OF CAR LEADS TO RAID ON ROOM
Scores of Crimes Charged to Members of 'Band of 40 Thieves'
Five men and a woman, reputedly members of Camden's notorious "band of 40 thieves," were arrested yesterday and formally charged with the holdup of the Public Service bus garage at Fifteenth and Mickle streets.
Efforts are also being made by local and state police to link the sextet with the $4000 Marlton National Bank holdup last Friday, and more than a score of other recent crimes throughout South Jersey. All six will be given hearings Thursday. The five men are held without bail; the woman is in jail in default of $5000 bail.
Stanley Powell, 28, of 1256 Whitman avenue, and Stephie Ciesla, 22, of 1224 Chase street, were taken into custody in Camden.
John Lenkowski, 28, of Chestnut and Louis streets; Stanley Geda, 22, of the 1200 block Everett street; Stanley Krause, 19, of 1252 Sycamore street, and Mitchell Sadowski, 18, of 1200 Sycamore street, were arrested in Philadelphia. Lieut. George Ward, of the Camden detective bureau, is preparing extradition papers to have them returned to this city.
Suspected in Holdups
The six are also suspected of complicity by local and county police in the holdup ten days ago of the Genova Cafe, Third and Arch streets; the $900 payroll robbery last month of the Young and Metzner Company at Sixth street and Atlantic avenue; the attempted robbery of a Westville chain store last Friday when shots were exchanged with police; the holdup of an ice cream stand at Central Airport; the larceny of an automobile from the Cadillac-LaSalle agency in Westville, Friday, and the theft of more than a score of stolen automobiles.
A total of $187.50 was found in the possession of the quartet nabbed in Philadelphia yesterday. This was described as part of the loot from the Public Service garage job by Lieutenant Ward.
The spectacular capture of the four was hailed by local authorities the first step in the breaking up of the notorious gang that has been operating in South Jersey for so long. The arrest of Powell and the Ciesla girl came a few hours later.
Lieutenant Ward and Detective Sergeant Gus Koerner, aided in (Continued on Page Two)
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier – September 3, 1934
Colsey Leads City-Wide Hunt for Bandit Killers of Cop
COLSEY LEADS CITY-WIDE HUNT FOR BANDIT KILLERS OF COP
Above left: Police Chief Arthur Colsey and detectives leaving the house at 243 Sycamore Street, where Detective William T. Feitz was slain. The place, police said, was operated as a disorderly house by Mrs. Emma Heisler, 38, who is under arrest as a material witness. Inset: Detective William T. Feitz. Center: Mrs. Emma Heisler, 38, who conducted a disorderly house at 243 Sycamore Street. Right: Thomas Bonnelli, of 370 Walnut Street, held as material witness.
Mayor Hints Shakeup in Police as Result of Detective Feitz Murder
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier –
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier – September 5, 1934
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier, September 5, 1934. Left to right: Mayor Roy R. Stewart — Chief of Police Arthur Colsey — Mrs. Anna Heisler.
Trenton Times – September 5, 1934
Trenton Times, September 5, 1934
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier – September 6, 1934
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier – September 7, 1934
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier – September 8, 1934
Feitz Funeral
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier –
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier, September 10, 1934 — Pall-bearers removing William Feitz’s body from the undertaking establishment of Coroner Arthur H. Holl. Pall-bearers, left to right: Patrolman Joseph Leonhart, Feitz’s companion the night he was slain; Otto Toperzer; Delaware Palmer; William Weaver; Paul Jackson. Police officials at funeral: Lt. Herbert Anderson — Chief Arthur Colsey — Lt. Ralph Bakley — E. Howard Broome — Lt. George A. Ward
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier – September 11, 1934
Camden Courier-Post Evening Courier – September 12, 1934
Stevens Point WI Daily Journal – April 1, 1936
Stevens Point WI Daily Journal, April 1, 1936
Trenton Times – April 3, 1936
Accused Boxer Comes To Defense of Zied
CAMDEN, April 3 (—).—Joseph Powell, a boxer, declares that Charles Zied, convicted slayer, was “outside the house when the shots were fired” that killed a Camden detective during a holdup in September, 1934.
Zied was saved from the electric chair at Trenton last Tuesday night by a 30-day reprieve from Governor Harold G. Hoffman, so that further evidence in the case could be investigated.
Powell, awaiting Grand Jury action on a charge of attempted holdup, said yesterday he did not know Zied, “but from the picture I saw in the paper, I am certain he was one of the men who came out of the house at about the time I did.”
Zied was condemned to die for killing Detective William T. Feitz at a Camden dwelling.
Zeid Still Guilty, Says Prosecutor
CAMDEN, April 18 — Samuel P. Orlando, Camden County prosecutor, has informed Governor Hoffman he does not feel that “new evidence” in the case of Charles Zeid, sentenced to die for slaying a detective, warranted any further inquiry.
Orlando announced last night he had written his opinion to the Governor, asserting he has not changed his belief in the prisoner’s guilt.
Zeid, 37, formerly identified with the “Tri-State Gang,” out of existence since the execution of its leaders a year ago, was convicted of killing Detective William Feitz in the holdup of a Camden disorderly house last April. He was granted a 30-day reprieve by Governor Hoffman on March 31.
Zeid will be re-sentenced after his reprieve expires April 30.
Helena, Montana Daily Independent – June 3, 1936
Helena, Montana Daily Independent, June 3, 1936