Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-19
First Witness Called for For
mer Police Lieutenant Is
Jacob Reich.
GIVES ALLEGED FRAME-UP
IN ROSENTHAL'S MURDER
Tells of Talks He Had With Rose
and Webber in Prison-Verdict Is
Expected by Monday.


! Charles Becker. former police lieutenant.
! for the murder Of the gambler. Sherman
Rosenthal. and called as its first wit
ness Jacob Reich. alias Jack Sullivan,
king of the newsboys.
Sullivan told of two alleged conversa-
tions with Rose in prison in which. he
swore. Rose had said: Whitman wants
Becker and I am going to give him to
him. Self-preservation is the first law
of nature. I'm going to look out for my
self
This conversation. according to the wit
ness. occurred in the Tombs. Later,
when the inforners and material wit
nesses were transferred to the Westside
prison. Sullivan said he asked Rose
whether he still intended to frame up
Becker
Rose said he did, said the witness.
Then had talk with Webber. He told
me his lawyer had advised him to get on
the band wagon and corroborate Rose.
Then 1 went back to Rose and advised
him to kill himself before he framed
up Becker.
He laughed and said Vallon was with
him, and that they would all be out
of Jail the next day."
Contention of Defense.
Whether Becker will take the stand
was still undecided today. Rosenthal
died in a gamblers war, at the hands
Of the four gunmen put to death for
the crime according to the contention
Of Martin T. Manton. chief counsel for
the defense, in his opening address. It
was doubtless true, he said. that Jack
Rose induced the gunner to slay
Rosenthal, but Rose was acting for
himself not for Becker.
Upon the opening of court the de-
fense made motion to dismiss the in
dictment against Becker on the ground
of insufficient evidence. The motion
was denied.
Mr.. Manton then began his opening
address. He said it was conceded that
Rosenthal had been murdered and that
four gunmen had murdered him. He
intended to prove. however. that Jack
Rose was Becker's stool pigeon and
that RosenthaI was murdered in a
gamblers war, because Rose or some
other person was afraid Of Rosenthal.
Manton said it was probably true that
Rose visited Lefty Louie and the other
gunmen and urged them to kill Rosen-
thai, telling them Becker wanted them to
do SO.
Roses Veracity Attacked.
But" said Manton, lit doesn't follow
that he told the truth to the gunner. As
a matter Of fact, Rose was acting en-
tirely upon his own initiative. I will
show that Rose said. It's my life or
Becker's, and I'm not going to commit
suicide
"A reporter for a morning paper will
testify that he called Becker from Times
Square directly after the murder
Mr. MantOn announced that thirty wit.
nesses would be called by the defense
and that of these four would be entirely
new to the case. The defense. he added,
would not take more than three days to
this statement a verdict in the case
should be expected on Monday.
Defense Introduces Record.
After recess late yesterday the de-
fense read to the jury copy of the tes-
timony before the grand jury that in
dicted Becker. In this record Pitt
swore Becker was innocent and had been
framed" by Whitman.
Letters written Becker at Sing Sing
prison and after he was brought back
to the Tombs were produced by Mr..
Manton The letters were addressed to
my Dear Pal Charles and contained
numerous assertions that Becker was
innocent Half Of them Pitt finally
confessed were in his handwriting.
One letter. addressed to the Tombs and
signed Hiram Charles was dated April
2 At that time, Pitt said earlier in the
day. he was holding conference swith
Assistant District Attorney Groehl. In
the letter Pitt asked Becker IL he still
wanted to "give him the cold shoulder,
and whether the writer could do some
thing to aid the former policeman
why were you negotiating with Mr..
uroehl?" asked Mr.. Manton.
"I was trying to fix 1t up for Becker
to confess and show up the men higher
up as grafters," answered Pitt
Pitt Sticks to Story.
Pitt stuck to his story about being
asked by Becker to kill Bald Jack"
Rose. the informer, while Becker was
be,ne taken on a train from New York
to Sing Sing.
Pitt appeared to be even more nervous
during his cross-examination than at any
time he was on the stand. In the middle
of the cross-eXamination Becker moved
to a far end of his counsels table, where
he could gaze directly into the face of
the witness He stared at him during
the rest of the afternoon and was appar-
emily eager to catch the eye Of his one
time friend and companion. In this he
was unsuccessful. however.
Negro Youth Aids State.
James Marshall. negro youth, follow
ed Pitt on the stand.
IT first met Charles Becker" said Mar
shall, during February. 1911, when he
gave me SO and told ME to gamble with
it and report to him where I had gam
bled From that time on 1 gambled in
many places, always reporting to
Becker"
Marshall also told of seeing Becker
near l24th street and 7th avenue in con-
yersation with Jack Rose and other men
he did not know the night of June 2S,
1912.
| This confederation by Marshall of
the story of Rose. Webber. Vallon and
Schepps regarding the Harlem con-
| ference, which the court of appeals
! declared to be 'the heart of the con-
| spiracy to murder Rosenthal," fur
nished what the district attorney de-
| clared to be sufficient proof that it
actually occurred. AT the Harlem
conference. it had been stated pre-
| yiously, Becker met the three first
named conspirators while Sam
schepps waited in a nearby automo-
bile.
| During the conference Becker, it
| ~