The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-11-05
jim DONALDSON
GETS TEN YEARS
Judge Armstrong Imposes
Maximum Sentence for
McWhirter Robbery.
CASE WILL BE APPEALED
IN MEANTIME GAMBLER is OUT
UNDER BONDS.

in the penitentary for the part ne took
in the notorious McWhirter bunco game.
This sentence, the maximum for the
crime of grand larceny in the first de-
gree. OF which he was convicted, was i'm
posed by Judge Armstrong at O'Clock
yesterday afternoon.
An appeal will be taken to the supreme
court and in the meantime Donaldson will
be out on the 5000 bail he furnished when
he was convicted last June.
Before the sentence was pronounced
Samuel A. King made lengthy argument
for a new trial taking up all the morning
and part of the afternoon. He based his
argument in part on the alleged miscon-
duct of NJ. A. Breeder. attorney general,
who very kindly Offered 10 assist the dis
trict attorney in the prosecution of the
case and was allowed to make the open
ing statement to the jury. The attorney
general made some rather startling state
ments at this time in connection with the
Sheets cases and Sheets was not on
trial this was objected to by the defense.
1t is understood that the Breeder state
ments will constitute the chief ground for
the appeal which Attorney King is per-
fecting.
F. c. Loofbourow. district attorney. did
not answer MIR. Kings argument. taking
il for granted that the court would over
rule his motion and allow the supreme
court to reverse the conviction if it so
desired
Donaldson did not seem to be affected
when sentence was pronounced, although
he admitted afterwards that he did not
expect to draw the maximum. The hope
of the defense was that Judge Armstrong
would let him off with a five year sem
tence at the most.
The argument before the supreme court
cannot be made before the January term
of the supreme court, and as ii Is prob
able that the appeal papers will not be
I wi he
until May that the court will hear the
matter. And il may be month or two
later, when the decision is handed down.
Donaldson the Fall Guy.
The crime for which Jim Donaldson
was sentenced was the old familiar Nc
Whittier robbery. Mr. Donaldson's part
in the affair was to be the silent one DIT
the poker game in which the McWhirter
brothers were swindled out of s2.0j0 Fol-
lowing the poker game they were robbed
of sS.S7S by Parent and Bell, the two
members of the gang who have now
turned states evidence to aid the pros
ecution of the other alleged members OF
the gang, including former Chief of PO-
lice George Sheets and former Chief OF
Detectives George Raleigh.
In the little affair that occurred at the
Antler rooming house on Sept. 10 year
ago, there were three Scotchmen con-
cerned. All of them were hard hit. Alex
ander and William McWhirter were the
victims of the gang. They lost $4,000.
The other, James Donaldson, one of the
gang, got ten years.
Throughout the entire proceedings Jim
Donaldson has maintained consistently
that he was being made the fall guy
After the sentence given him yesterday
ne has apparently little doubt but that
he was right in this contention.
Jim Donaldson was the first of the
bunco men arrested and the only one
thus far convicted. In fact, none of the
rest seems anywhere near conviction.
The cases against former Chief of Police
Sheets, George Raleigh William Newton
and the rest are still pending" Larry
and Jack O'Brien are still at large. w.
H. Parent has been released on his own
recognizance and is a familiar figure
about town. Bell is a trusty at the coun-
| ty Jail.
| aldson remained in Salt Lake. displaying
when occasion presented itself thousand
dollar bills. This indiscretion was one of
| the causes of his present predicament.
few days later he hurriedly left Salt
Lake having learned that the McWhir
| tiers had returned from Los Angeles. He
went to Denver, and later. accompanied
| by young woman, went to Hot Springs,
| assuming the name of Willie James. He
was followed there by Deputy Sheriff Joe
! Sharp. On learning that Sharp was in
| Hot Springs, Donaldson gave himself up
| to the officer and returned to Salt Lake
Turns States Evidence.
After some little time in jail he was
| released on bali and last summer was
| tried in the district court and convicted
| on charge of grand larceny. On the
stand Jim told a remarkable story con-
| corning his connection with the case He
| insisted that ne was innocent; that he
was the fall guy and just as much OF
| q victim of the gang as were the Nc
| Winters. He was convicted and again
placed in jail
| From time to time Donaldson let fall
| vague hints as to what he might tell were
| the proper inducement offered. He limited
/ at Information that he had hitherto with
| held which would be particularly dam
| aging to Chief Sheets. He said that he
| had been thrown down miserably by
| Sheets and ii was now time to protect
| himself. He let it appear that he was to
| be given a short sentence in return for
| turning states evidence against Sheets.
/ Finally he did take the stand at one of
| the numerous preliminary hearings in the
| Sheets case and told another remarkable
| story contradicting the story he had told
| on the stand in his own trial. He was
] somewhat vague in his testimony against
| Sheets, but in a measure corroborated the
| story of Parent, who was also used in
| this connection by the prosecution.
! H. however Jim Donaldson dreamed
| that his turning states evidence would
| secure for him a shorter sentence than
| he would otherwise have received, the
| awakening of yesterday must have been
A hard blow to him. Instead of getting
| off with a year or two, he was given the
| limit-a fitting climax to his short but
| interesting career as fall guy" In
1 A. tho QrInronaa court dauiac