The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1922-12-15
WOMAN AND MAN
HANG FEBRUARY Il
END OF RUM TRADE In ALBERTA
SEEN AS HANGMAN'S MOOSE
AWAITS THE PAIR
Execution of Emperor Pick" and
Young Italian Matron Believed to
Sound Doom of Bookkeeping, as
Law is Making Rum-Running Too
Unsafe to Take Chances.

In their cells in the Fort Saskat
chewan jail, Emilio Picariello, noto-
rious international bootlegger and
condemned slayer of Constable Steve
0. Lawson of the Alberta Provincial
police at Coleman, west of Leth-
bridge, September FL last, and his
youthful accomplice, Mrs. Florence
Lassandro, also sentenced to die for
the crime, await in dread February
II, 1928, the date of their execution
Sentence was passed on the two by
Justice Walsh last week, after the
jury had brought in a verdict of
guilty of first degree murder, follow
ing six days of trial, trial which
will go down in the judicial annals
of the province as one of the notable
legal battles of its history. The at
torney general personally laid the
charge; A. A. McGillivray, K. c., of
Calgary, and one of the foremost
criminal lawyers in the province, rep
resented the crown, with an equally
notable jurist, J. Mckinley Cameron,
K. c., representing the accused,
whose fortune, accumulated, it is
said, in his gigantic rum-running en-
terprises of which he was the pivot,
was thrown into the fight for life.
Woman Weakens
When the jury brought in a verdict
of guilty, a Sitting stiffness fell over
the crowded courtroom. The clock
on the wall could be heard to tick, as
Judge Walsh prepared to speak.
Picarielle stood unmoved and stolid,
as the measure of his life span was
counted. When the judge fixed the
date of his execution, the Italian
turned pale, clenched his hands and
dropped into the dock beside the wo-
man. She was Immediately SEN
fenced, being supported by the prison |
matron, the terrific tension of weeks, |
coupled with the fate awaiting her |
in the future, completely breaking
down the girl. A low moan escaped |
her lips and they moved as though |
to speak, but she said nothing.
Forty witnesses were called by the
crown, Judge Walsh stating that they
had completely established their case
against the accused, who acted in
concert and with design when they
set out on the evening of September
Fl last to "get" Constable Steve Law
son, the terror of the bootleg ring
If the Pass.
Lawson, the story of the crime
shows, went to the door of the police
quarters unarmed, walked over to
he car, and in the melee that fol-
owed he was shot in the back by the
girl, according to her confession, with
.38 caliber revolver. Picariello, or
Emperor Pick of the Pass" as he
vas known, carried an automatic, the
hots of which flew wild, breaking
he windshield of the death car and
unching a hole in the speedometer.
he widow of the constable and his {
wo tots were among the witnesses
or the prosecution. The woman's
enouement was dramatic.
Did Not Expect Death :
Picariello had no idea that he
ould go to the gallows, it appears,
,r he refused dinner the evening of
lie closing day of the trial. While
lie jury was out deciding his fate, :
3 joked with his guards, stating that
> and his counsel would stage a
party in the Palliser hotel, Cal
ary, where the case was tried on