Evening journal., 1915-07-30

Bridge" Weber was arrested the
same day. on suspicion. and the next
day. Jack Rose. who had been laying
low" was taken.
Rose admitted he had hired the
car and collected the four gunner
"Gyp the Blood. Lefty Louie "Dago
Frank" and Whitley Lewis. members
OF Big Jack" zelig's East Side gang.
Then began the roundup of the
gunner. 'Dago Frank" was the first
/ arrested. and on August /. Whitley
Lewis" was found hiding in the Cat
: skill mountains. "Gyp the Blood
and Lefty Louie" we're not arrested
until late in September.
In the meantime Becker had been
/ indicted for murder, due TO the con-
fessions OF "Bald Jack Rose.
"Bridgie" Weber and Harry vallon
who also had been taken for his value
as witness, II was not until a
month after Becker was indicted that
murder indictments were returned
against "Gyp the Blood" Lefty
Louie" "Dago Frank Whitley
Lewis" Jack sullivan and Willie
Shapiro The last two got out 1f
the muss because Of their work IN
aiding the State, and because they
were not directly implicated in the
killing Of Rosenthal.
With all the principals safely lodg-
ed behind the bars District Attorney
Whitman began gathering the mass
of evidence. Sleuths we're put on
] lBeoker's past and his whole life was
barred in the first murder trial. The
investigators found money In various
New York banks IN Becker's name,
aggregating in all 10 between $4,000
and $1,000 This was one of the
strongest. links in the district attor-
news chain. as Il tended 10 corrob-
crate Roses graft revelations. Becker
attempted to explain the money by
: saving IL was the accumulation OF
} wears of saving by he and his wife.
b but the agents discovered that Becker
j had been divorced. disproving his
, story
j On October g. the day before Beck
er was put on trial big Jack Zelig,
81 famous East Side gunman, and boss
I OF the four that murdered Rosenthal,
b was shot TO death in Second avenue
, by a gangster..
e Becker went to trial the next day,
[ before Justice Goff In three weeks,
r on October "a the jury returned a
verdict Of guilty in the first degree.
Becker was convicted mainly on the
4 testimony Of Jack Rose. about the
( now famous Harlem Conference In
p that conference. Rose swore he met
= Becker on One Hundred and Twenty
fourth street and Seventh avenue, on
o the night of June %, and Becker
y promised him and his pals immunity
il they would put Rosenthal out Of
h the way. The testimony Of Weber
S and WALTON corroborated Roses state
I ments II was further corrobcratet
j. by a negro named Marshall. in nj
way connected with the case. who
e said he saw Rose and Becker talkinl
v on that corner that night.
e After his conviction. which he tool
with remarkable fortitude. Becke
Of was sentenced to die December 9. Al
~ appeal saved him. however. as it act
Nd ed as a stay of execution. On Novem
or Der 10, "Gyp the Blood" White,
70. Lewis "Dago Frank" and Lett
as Louie were found guilty Of murde
in the nrst degree and were sentence
ilyft be elecuocuted.
Little OF importance occurred
the case during 1913. There wer
sporadic outbursts of activity, bt
nothing definite developed
q Becker spent sll this time in th
r death house Of Sing Sing. near wher
the four gunner were awaiting deatl
His iron nerve never failed. Neithe
did those Of his four hirelings
Il was February "a before a ri
es in the clouds revealed TO the convict
10 ed police lieutenant a chance to es
W cape the chair. On that date the CouI
a. Of Appeals set aside the verdict an
n ordered a re-trial. The same cour
q however as a part of the same ru
an ing. affirmed the death sentence {
40 the four gunner. and they were ele'
trocuted in Sing Sing on April Il
HI after every means TO save their live
"A had been exhausted.
iv Becker was iubilant over his ne
- trial. He could not see anything bl
,a that he would be acquitted.
~ On May g. he was again put O
trial for murder, this time befoI
"A Justice Seabury. Sixteen days late
az he again stood before the bar an
| . heard Guilt of murder in the frl
-, degree" But again he kept his n
- markable nerve and walked from n
"a courtroom without a tremor. He Wa
- again sentenced to be executed.
~ His friends and attorneys. howeve
cheered him up with prospects of al
other victory on the appeal.
The case dragged along then unit
May 25. 1915. when the Court Of Al
les peals all but crusehd the last hoI
iei when il affirmed his second convi
ue. tion. Three weeks later the cou
-, az sealed his fate by refusing TO liste
sne TO the re-argument of the appeal
ing There was but one chance left
A. commutation from the governor. b
her the governor of 1915 and the hghtiT
My young district attorney of 1912 we
lgil the same man, Whitman having ste
Ie ped into the governors chair
Becker's conviction and the accor
panying volumes of publicity Civ,
3 the cases all over the United Stat
cleared New York of the gunner al
the gangsters TO large extent B
y fore July, 1912, New York's East Sid
II with its labyrinthe of alley-lil
streets, blind alleys, and saualid ten
ments and buildings had been a bree
ew ing and nesting place for gangste
and gunner The police seemed u
III able TO stop them. Gambling of
a. kinds fourished throughout the Ea
=. Side and the Tenderloin district, fu
~ ther up town. But the Becker co
,sa viction and the electrocution of 70
~ 81 of the East Sides sons-"put the fe
~ OF God in their hearts, as one
HE the lawyers connected with the ca
,ad termed it.