Bisbee daily review., 1914-05-03
NEW YORK PREPARES FOR SECOND TRIAL OF
 BECKER FOR MURDER
DISTRICT ATTORNEY ROUNDING UP WITNESSES TO APPEAR
 MONDAY IN FAMOUS CASE

NEW YORK, May 2-District At- torney Whitman ano nis aids have
 practically completed heir end of the preparations for the second trial of Charles Becker. former police lieut. enant. on charges of instigating Che murder of Herman Rosenthal, for which the four gunmen were recent ly executed in Sing Sing The Dis ! trict Attorney win be ready for the | trial to proceed next Monday, which is the tentative date fixed by Justice seaburry of the supreme court H there is any postponement when the case is called 1t will be on motion of counsel for Che defense.
 The principal work of the District Attorneys office in preparing for the Inew trial has been in the rounding up of the witnesses. Since the first
 trial which took place Q year ago last fall the witnesses for the State, or the most of them. have forgotten their old haunts in the metropolis, and | some of them have taken up perma- nent residence outside the city anc State. As soon as Che supreme court ] granted Becker @ new trial Mir. Whit man went to work to place himself in l communication with those who had !. testified for the prosecution at the | first trial Within the past two months he has had assurances from each Of them, either in person or by letter that they will be on hand ready
 to testify when the case is called for the second time
 It is known that the District At
 toney feels that he has the States case In good shape. The general sup position is that Mr. Whitman will
 rest his case upau the testimony of ! Rose, Weber aud Vallon In that re-
 spect the case will resemble the one
 which was reversed by the higher
 court But the testimony in corrob-
 oratIon it is said win be almost en-
 trely new.
 Jack Rose "Brdgie' Weber. Harry
 Vallon and sam Schepps were the principal witnesses for the State at
 the first trial They are the four iu,
 formers who testified to having con.
 ducted the negotiations between Becker and the bunmen and to have
 been otherwise concerned it. lhe pre-
 liminaries Of the plot that ended in
 the murder of Rosenthal
 The testimony of ScheppE was not Of an entirely satisfactory character
 and was freely criticised in the de- cisiou Of the court o- appeals. FoT this reason and also because Scheppe
 has talked so freely and told SO many contradictory and highly sensational
 tales since Becker's first conviction .it is considered probable tLat the Dis . rict Attorney may not call him t,
 the stand at the new trial
 Rose Webber and Vallon ar.
 counted upon to take the stand anC
 repeat the testimony they offered a s the first trial Since their releas, Q from jaiI where they were held lo
 many months as witnesses. the trl, [ have kept in touch with the Distric | Attorneys office Rose now make h his home in Connecticut when he i f not filling dates as a lecturer an, S evangelist Vallon has been employeI n of late as a cigar salesman. Weber fl engaged in a manufacturing bushes d in Passaiu, N. J.
 }. There is much speculation in anu d out of legal circles as to the part tha s "Dago Franks" confession. made with q in less than two hours of his deatL e will play in the second trial of Beck
 err The friends of the former polio x lieutenant hold that Che confession 1. admitted will amount to an eXculps ). tion of Becker as the instgator e f. the Roseuthal murder, and further !; more they declare that it shows th a worthlessness of the testimony give d by Rose, Weber, Vallcn and Schepp,
 On the other hand, District Attorne r Whitman does not consider the COT y fession as vital to the case. eithe r. from the standpoint or the defense O 20 the prosecution In Che opinion of tn 'r District Attorney the confession 1 many ways cOrrObOrates the cOntol
 ton of Che state-that there ther
 was a conspiracy and that as a n
 suit of that conspiracy the gunmo
 were hired to murder Rosenthal A week in advance of the assassination CT The second interesting point in c0i nc nection with the new trial is the prol 10 ability that Becker will take th 'e- stand in his own defense It Is sal es that the expolice officer strongly d n- sired to take the stand at the hr ul trial but was dissuaded from doing 2 te by the counsel. If he takes the stan .d- at the coming trial he will be su ll' iected to a severe Cross-oXaminatio 'A- He win be asked In particular 10 e 'c' plain how he managed to accumula ll' a la-ge fortune on a salary of S24( ns a year At the first trial it was sal nu the District Attorney had trace lc some S70.00O in Beckers accoun
 scattered in banks and an over q
 city If Becker takes Che stand it wi 1 open the way for tho state to intr iH duro evidence tO Urouo that Beck