Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-12-20
NEVER HAD ELEVENTH
BIRTHDAY, SAYS GIRL, ] 2
Remembers When She Was Ten Then Skips Year in Grow
ing"-Gruesome Articles Telling Tales of Murder Fill Dark
Room in Court House.

Tor crimes or now palnsIaklnR their
efforts in this direction are.
A recent case that was handled by
Judge Osborne can be cited as sam
pie intance. Dorothy Ligio and Helen
Wilson, alias Helen DaMatto, were
sentenced this week by Judge Os-
borne to serve not less than a year
and a half or more than three years
at the Trenton States prison for
shoplifting. The two women had been
caught open handed in the crime in a
local department store and had con-
fessed after their arrest that they
had come to this city from Brook
Ign for the express purpose of rob-
bling department stores.
After pleading guilty both prisoners,
the Ligio woman being twenty years
of age and the Wilson woman thirty
one, pleaded with the court for mercy
The Ligio girl refused to give any in
formation as to her family except
to state that she was married to a
man named Ligio who worked in the
Wailabout market in Brooklyn. She
said she had never been in trouble
before and sought to lay the blame
on the Wilson woman.
The Wilson woman admitted being
arrested before for shoplifting, but
made an earnest plea for mercy,
stating that she had never realized
before what she was doing. All this
was in the early part of November.
Judge Osborne took the statements
of the girls and after looking them
over caused a special investigation
to be made by an officer attached to
the probation office. This work took
the officer all over New York and
brooklyn, occupying almost a months
time When his work had been com
pleted it was found that the state
ments OF the women were faulty in
many respects, they having admitted
only what they knew the most casual
invetigation on the part of the Off
Gals would develop.
No trace of the Ligio girl could be
FOUND at the address she gave as
her home in Brooklyn. Instead it was
found that for considerable period
she had been known as a common
street character in Brooklyns ten
derloin." In the case of the Wilson
woman the record was even worse.
Tor she had been arrested no less
than nVe times in the past twelve
years for shoplifting, and had served
three terms for the offense. With the
previous record of the women before
him Judge Osborne could not con-
slstently serve society except by inn
posing prison sentence on the
women.
a rather startling difference of
opinion exists between persons ron
nected with the county prosecutors
office and Ray E. Mayham assistant
state examiner of banks, who has
uncovered all the criminal transact
tions IN connection with the wreck |
ing or the RoseVille Trust COMPANY. |
MT. Mayham is of the opinion that
such as ii has been
discovered Raymond e. Smith. for
mer treasurer of the bank, was In
the habit of committing, should not
De barred from prosecution after |
lapse OF two years by the statute of
These embezzlements consisted of
the actual theft of money supposedly |
sareiy placed in the bank by deposit |
tors. The method OF the theft was
as follows: A depositor would come
to the bank with a deposit, say. for
the purpose of illustration, of 81. 900
This $4,000 would be received by
Smith, or one of the tellers acting
under his direction, and the proper
credit given the depositor in his pass
book. But no entry would be made
of the $4,000 deposit in the books of
the bank.
Mr. Mayham points out that in the
case OF theft committed this Way
1t is absolutely impossible for a bank
examiner to detect it, no matter how
carefully the books of the bank are
examined. The only means by which
1t could be detected would be by
calling in all of the pass-books of
the bank and comparing them with
the actual books of the bank. This
is very costly and involved pro
ceeding. and is never done except
when suspicion has been aroused by
some other crooked work in q bank
II the stealing was confined alone to
the method outlined above, and the
money involved taken from what are
known as dead" or inactive savings
account where the books are never
presented to the banks by the hold
ers for checking up 1t could go on in
definitely without being caught. Mr..
Mayham is of the opinion that In
outlaw under the statute of limita-
tons for a period much longer than
two years.
This view is not taken by officials
of the prosecutors office, who state
that under proper supervision by the
officials OF the bank and the bank ex-
aminers it would not be possible ex-
cept in extremely isolated cases for
such stealing to take place In a bank
for any great length of time without
being discovered. Laxity of the Of
flcials connected with the Roseville
Trust Company is given as the reason
for Smith being able to successfully
cover up such populations for two
years or more back.