The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-02-25
KENNEDY CROWD
IS GIVEN HEARING
BEFORE R. B. WATTS
Leader Talks Freely About
Manner in Which Post
Office Was Robbed
DECIDED WHO SHOULD
MAKE DASH BY LOTS
kennedy says He Was sitting In Ho'ei
sbortIy Afterward When stamp
clerk Came in and Failed to
Recognize Him

Before United States OouliiiisSio -
r. Watts. the preliminary nearing u
Warren Kennedy and his pals the eon-
fessed robbers of the postoffice, was pc
Gun Yesterday afternoon. The nearing
was continued until this morning Wheh
some more witnesses will be examined.
The Kennedy gang was given into the
hands of the government officials yester-
dav by the local police department lheS
were lodged in the county jail last hisiil
where they will be kept until the next
session of the United States grand jury
which meets in March. Their cases VIII
nrohablv be tried about March Z, before
United States District Judge w. /. Grub.
Kennedy and all of the persons arrest
ed with him have confessed their con-
nection with the postoffice robbery which
occurred here Friday morning, FEBRUARY
II. Kennedy has confessed that. he ana
Crockett were the two men who earned
out the robbery proper and the otner
three. skinny Long, Russ Goodman
and Minnie Belle Murphy have acknowl-
edged that they helped in the spending
of the money and will be tried before
the United States court for aiding and
abetting crime.
Arrested on Street
Detective Tully, who with Tom Will
liams went to Chattanooga after the five
postoffice robbers, in speaking OF the
trip last night, said: All of the gang
were arrested on the street in Chatta-
nooga We knew each one of them by
sight and it was not difficult to PICK
them out of crowd. We arrested Ken
nedy in a grocery store where he was
spending some of his ill-gotten money
for groceries to stock up the larder of
the little cottage which the gang had
taken possession of on the outskirts of
the city.
AT first Kennedy denied that he had ta-
ken the money and refused to talk until
he had seen a lawyer We told him of
facts which were known to the authors
ties. This probably scared him for he
then confessed that he was the man who
snatched the roll of bills from the stamp
window Yes he blurted out, 1 took
the d money"
I'VE did not return as soon as was
expected for it took some time to round
up the entire gang. We did not go to
the house for fear that while one or two
were being arrested the others might es-
cape. Kennedy made his first confession
to us and the Chattanooga police
Kennedy Talks Freely
Warren Kennedy is a young man about
twenty years of age. After his arrest
and first confession, he made no secret
berry to any one. He said that he and
his chum Crockett entered the postoffice
the morning of the robbery In order to
warm. While standing in front of the
radiator they noticed the stamp clerk
counting out the money behind the screen
at the stamp window. Gee" Crockett is
alleged to have said, couldn't a fellow
grab that money! This put the idea
into Kennedy's head and he determined
to try his luck. He says they drew cuts
to determine which of the two should
grab the money. 1t fell to him and telling
Crockett to open the door when he
started to run, he walked to the window
and snatched the money.
He says that shortly afterwards he
came up town and was sitting in the
lobby of one of the hotels when he saw
Stamp Clerk Dial come in and look about.
II knew he was looking for me and
went by him several times to see If he
would recognize me-" Kennedy said. He
said Crockett hid the money in some
rocks out in the suburbs and a few days
later went to Memphis to have some fun.
Kennedy says that he could not stay
away from his sweetheart, Minnie Belle
Murphy, and decided to come back and
take her to Chattanooga where they
could all be together. The other men were
let in on the deal, Kennedy said, because
they were good friends of his.