The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-04-11
A Waterbury, Conn, Man
Swears Rosenthal Murder
er Was Not One of Four
HOPE FOR NEW TRIAL
BASED ON STORY
Hearing of Evidence May
Cause Temporary Res
pite for the Men

New York, April 1.-THE relatives
and friends of the four gunmen, who are
sentenced to die in the electric chair on
Monday morning for the murder of the
gambler, Herman Rosenthal, and the
convicted men themselves based their
hopes for respite on the hearing before
Justice John w. Goff OF the supreme
court to-day on the motion OF new
trial 1t was doubtful if the hearing be-
| fore Justice Golf could be concluded to-
day, in which event it was expected that
District Attorney Whitman would join
with the counsel for the gunmen in re-
questing Governor Glynn to grant a
respite.
Unless such respite is received by
Warden Clancy OF the Sing Sing prison
before the time set for the execution
he has made it plain that the original
program of the execution will be fol-
lowed. Until word of the eleventh hour
| fight in their behalf was carried to them
in the deathhouse late last night the
four gunmen were preparing for death.
At first they refused to believe that any
hope remained of escaping the death
chair.
The evidence upon which counsel bases
the motion for new trial came only
Yesterday. w. u. Burwell, a pool and
billiard player of Waterbury, Conn.,,
swore to an affidavit that he saw the
Rosenthal murder and that the man who
shot the gambler was not one of the
four gunmen. Burwell says he can
identify the murderer if he could see
him again.
Burwell's Statement.
Burwell in his affidavit says that on
the night Rosenthal was shot, shortly
before a. m, he with two actor friends
named Manning and Flynn left the pool
room over Dowling's cafe on Times
square and crossed the square, leaving
his friends near the subway entrance
while he crossed Forty Third street dag.
onally, passing the door of what was
then the Cadillac hotel. next to the
Metropole, in front of which Rosenthal
was shot.
."Just as j passed the door, man
not five feet from me raised his arm,
his affidavit continued. There were
two flashes, two reports, and the man
with the revolver fed across the street
toward the stage door of the Cohan |
theatre. Right in front of that door
gray touring car was standing. Several
men were in it. As the man who had |
fired the first two shots fed for the
automobile, there were two or three
more reports, and then the man who
had come from the hotel Metropole
dropped to the sidewalk. / cannot say I
whether the last shots came from men /
standing in the street or men in the /
Immediately after the shots |
were fired, the machine started with /
jerk and dashed through Forty Third /
street in the direction of Sixth avenue"
In the excitement that followed the |
shooting, Burwell said, he saw a police
man coming his way, determined it was
best not to get mixed up in the affair,
returned to Dowling's cafe, changed his
mind about staying over night in a
New York hotel and left for Bridgeport
on the first train he could get. He has
been in New York no more than was
absolutely necessary since that time, he
However, he made memo
few days after Rosenthal was
killed, of everything he had seen, and
the memorandum book in which he en-
tered his notes is now in the possession
Of friend, Mrs. Annie Brown.
Burwell adds that he had resolved
never to reveal what he knew, but when
le learned Thursday that Governor
Flynn had refused to grant the gunmen
/ reprieve he determined to tell his
story. He communicated with lawyer
n Poughkeepsie on Thursday night,
when he reached this decision, and was
advised to see the gunmen's counsel be-
ore it was too late. He reached New
York at / o'clock yesterday morning,
md as soon as he could get in touch
With C. G. F. Wahle, the gunmen's corm-
el, told him his story. II
To-day | have been shown photo
raphs of the four men who are under
Ieath sentence" his affidavit concluded. {
The man who fired the first two shots
t Rosenthal was not one of this four 8
The man was about five feet eight inches
all and wore soft hat. / can identify /
i'm any time | see him. ] am willing
o go into court and testify TO these
acts