Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-05-26
Police Lieutenant, Twice Found
Guilty of InStigating the
Murder of RoSenthaI, Now
Faces Death,
EXECUTION DATE TO
BE SET TODAY, LIKELY
Justice Writes III Opinion That
While First Trial Might Not
Have Been Fair, Second
Was UnaSSaiIabIe,


Becker the former New
lieutenant, must die in Il .trie
chair at Sing Sing prison dn the
next six weeks for the murder of Her
man Rosenthal. the New York gam
bier, by four gunmen on July 16,
1912, unless Governor Whitman or
the United States supreme court in
tervenes.
The court of appeals of New York
today affirmed the conviction Of Bee
ker by jury in the supreme court at
his second trial held several months
ago. The same court granted Backer
n new hearing after his first trial on
the ground that Presiding Justice
Goff had erred.
The prevailing opinion of the court
written by Chief Judge William Bart
lett held that the second trial was
fair and free from error. Judge Ho-
gan alone dissented.
I'VE desire" the prevailing opinion
said, that the views which led us
to affairm this Judgment shall be-
Enthusiastically clear. Doubtless a very
strong argument can be made in ia
vor of the defendant based upon the
inducement OF the avowed accom-
plices to swear falsely, their oppor-
tunity to fabricate evidence and the
lack of conclusiveness in corrobora-
tion.
''All this however was question
for the jury with whose determination
We are not justified in interfering un-
less we can say that it was plainly
wrong-which, as already stated, we
can not say"
To Set Execution Date Soon.
The date for the execution will be
reset soon, probably tomorrow. It
usually is dated about five weeks from
the time d decision is rendered go 1t
is likely that June rs or July will
be chosen.
Lieutenant Governor Schoneck will
act as governor tomorrow and June
H. but there is no likelihood of his
exercising executive clemency dur
ing that period, especially in this
case.
The orinlon held that the testimony
of "Bridgie' Webber and BALD Jack
Rose regarding the so-called Harlem
conference at which the murder of
Rosentha was said to have been
planned was true and that It was
corroborated in the second trial byi
James Marshall, a negro.
The testimony of Deputy Police
and Charles B. Pitt, commonly known
as "Becker's press agent" also was
held to be true.
Pitts Evidence.
Pitt testified that Becker told him
to keep away from Times Square, /
near where the killing took place, |
ON the night of the murder. Dough- |
erty said Becker maintained two
nights after the murder that he had /
not seen Rose for a week. The prose- !
cuton insisted that this statement by 1
Becker was untrue and that he must !
have known Rose was in hiding and (
was being sought.
The statement made by 'Dago
Frank" Cirofici just before his exc
cuton at Sing Sing, that so far as he
knew Becker had nothing to do with
the killing Of Rosenthal, was right
fully excluded from the evidence on
Becker's second trial, Judge Bartlett
held The opinion says:
ut is generally believed that a
sense of speedily impending death
operates to induce one to tell the
truth and we are asked to hold that
this influence would be just as eilec-
tive in the case of any witness who
is about to die as it is deemed to be
in the case of a victim of a homicide.
AS 10 the argument in favor of ad-
mitting evidence of such declaration
as that alleged to have been made by
'Dago Frank" it may be observed
that the influence of approaching
death might be very different in the
case of an innocent victim of crime
from what IT would be in the case of
a guilty murderer condemned to die.
Unless numbers of innocent men have
suffered capital punishment in this
country many criminals have gone to
the gallows with a lie upon their lips.
First and Second Cases Differ.
THE case as presented upon the
second trial differed materially from
the case as presented upon the first.
The actual killing of Rosenthal by
the gunmen was not contr0verted nor
was the agency of Rose, Webber ana
Harry Vallon in employing them.
The question was, who instigated
Webber Rose and Vallon to cause
the murder to be done. Were they
moved to act by the fraternity of New
York gamblers, largely represented
on the Sam Paul excursion. who
dreaded the destruction of their
business by Rosenthals threat and
disclosures, or did they hire the gun
men to shoot Rosenthal at the in
stance of Lieutenant Becker? There
is nothing to indicate that the gun
men were actuated by any personal
hostility toward the man they killed.
They were simply murderers for hire
A1...