Omaha daily bee., 1919-11-05
kATELMAN And
neal APPEAL IS
GIVEN HEARING
Men Convicted On Testimony
Of Notorious Auto Thieves
Befriended by Police
Want New Trial.

Judge Ben Baker and Attorney
A. S. Richie, representing Morris
Katelman, Omaha business man,
and Fletcher Neal, Peru, Neb.,
farmer, respectively, argued Mon
day before the supreme court at
Lincoln an appeal from the Doug
las county district court, which last
summer sentenced the two men to
terms in the penitentiary for steal
ing automobiles.
Katelman and Neal were accused
by the Omaha police of being the
"hlgher-ups" in a gang OF car
thieves, which for months operated
in and about this city, exasperating
automobile owners and rendering
the local police department ridicu-
lous.
The men were convicted on the
testimony of William McKenna and
L. c. Jones, who declared they had
delivered stolen cars to katelman
and Neal pursuant to an alleged
promise of Commissioner Ringer
and Chief Eberstein that they
would not be punished for their own
offenses.
Accused Police Chief.
McKenna and Jones are serving
terms in the penitentiary, and Com
missioner Ringer and Chief Eber-
stein are said to- be attempting to
obtain pardons for the prisoners.
On the eve of their departure for
the State prison, McKenna and
Jones accused Chief Eberstein of
violating his agreement with them. 4
Mckenna quoted the police chief
az saying he could not carry out
his agreement because he was
afraid of The Bee"
Contrary to law and in disregard
of all rules and custom, McKenna
and Jones were held prisoners at
the city Jail for months after they
were bound over for the district
court, when they should have been
il. the custody of the sheriff
The prisoners were not sent to the
county Jail until after they had testi-
fled against katelman and Neal.
McKenna was humored and indulg-
ed by Commissioner Ringer and
Chief Eebersten- to the extent that
he was allowed to go to and from
the city Jail at his own free will.
McKenna stole several automo-
biles in the city while he was en-
joying the liberty granted him by
the commissioner and chief of po-
lice, according to the chiefs own
statement.
Held Illegally In Jail.
Jones also was granted hereto
fore unheard of privileges while he
was held illegally a prisoner at the
city jail. According to, his own
statement OH the witness stand
Jones was given large quantities of
morphine four and five times a day
at the Women's Detention home.
Jones was a confessed drug addict,
and his vice was encouraged by !
Chief Eberstein all the time he was
IN the city Jail, the prisoner as
serted. l
McKenna declared before he went
to the penitentiary that he witnessed |
transaction between Detective
Jim Murphy and an automobile
thief in which the detective accepted |
a bride of $ll0 to allow the thief,
who was wanted in Omaha, to
escape.
McKenna asserted ne was sent to
southern town in Nebraska to
identify the man who was wanted |
to face a number of charges of |
stealing automobiles on the streets |
OF Omaha. McKenna said he re-
ported the matter to Chief Eber-
stein upon his return and he was
told to keep quiet about it. The po-
lice chief went to Lincoln and at
tempted to prevail on McKenna to
repudiatc his charge against Detec-
tive Murphy. McKenna refused to
comply with the request.
Murphy never was called on by |
his superiors in the department for
an explanation, so fas as is known. |