Milford chronicle., 1923-07-06
FIND LONG GUILTY OF
MURDER in lST DEGREE
Wilmington Man Convicted Of Kill
ing Elisha Hudson Near SeIby-
vile, Sussex County.
JURY WAS OUT TWO HOURS
The Prisoner UnmOved, Smiles AT
Verdict; Details Movements
On Night Of Crime.

A verdict of guilty of murder in the
first degree with a recommendation of
mercy was returned at 11:15 o'clock
Tuesday night, by the jury in the case
of Walter Long, of Wilmington, charg-
ed with the brutal murder of his step
grandfather, Elisha Hudson, in lone
ly wood near Selbyville, April 19. The
verdict was reached after over two
hours deliberation.
The remarkable composure which
Long showed throughout the two days
of his trial in Court of Oyer and Ter
miner did not forsake him at the end
and he accepted the verdict with a
smile on his face.
Longs wife, who sat near him, was
also calm. She presented a striking
figure throughout the trial, dressed in
a flowing black cape and bright red
shoes and stockings and wearing
large black hat.
Long, who took the stand in his own
defense on Tuesday, sprang a surprise
when he told a story of his actions
from the day before the murder until
the time of his arrest. Six witnesses
corroborated various details of his
story.
Two of the defense's star witnesses
were alluded to by Long as bootleg
gers. When the time came to call
them to the stand it was found that
they had disappeared from the court
room and all efforts to find them fall
ed.
One of the high lights of Longs
story was his vivid description of the
third degree" administered to him,
he said, at police headquarters in Will
mington. He was cursed, beaten and
thrown about the room, he said, and
threatened with the most horrible
tortures if he did not confess.
The State closed its case at noon on
Tuesday, after producing witnesses to
prove that the coat Long wore to
Selbyville was stained with blood |
Other witnesses testified that Long
had an unusually large amount of
money with him after his return from |
Selbyville.
Longs Story
Long testified that he won a large
amount of money gambling in Ches-
ter during the week of April 18. Two
S1OO bills, he testified, he put behind
the radiator and told his wife to save
them to buy furniture when they got
a house.
On Wednesday, April 18, he said, he
received a letter from Harry Shaultz,
of Ocean City, Md, asking him to
bring down some liquor. He got
Charles Di Salvo, he said, and prom
ised him $1OO to drive him down the
State and then to Philadelphia. They ;
got six cases of liquor at Taylor's
Bridge, he testified, and then drove to
Berlin. On the road between Berlin !
and Ocean City, he said, he met {
Shaultz at $3.50 in the evening.
While they were stopped, he said, {
two men, Homer Wainwright and {
Walter Downes, whom he knew, stop i
ped and asked if he needed help. He
said he gave Wainwright drink. That 2
night, he testified, he went to the home +
Of his grandfather, William F. Long, v
near Berlin, and he and Di Salvo n
spent the night there. $
At z o'clock the next morning, he
asserted, he and Di Salvo left for Will n
The car broke down mile y
from Selbyville, he said, and they d
worked on it all day, leaving at IL o. "
clock that night for Wilmington. g
Instead of stopping in Wilmington, f,
le said, they drove to Philadelphia. a
1t Fifty-fourth and Market streets he d
net Myron Kaufman and Jack Bro n
lie, whom he described as bootleggers. N
IN the way home, at Sixteith and Mar q,
ret streets, he said, he saw Dorothy r
ones, whom he knew, and waved at hi
Ter from the car. They reached Will II
ningtOn late, he said, and he went eT
irectly to bed. OF
Jean Long, wife Of the defendant, n,
9stified that her husband had put the m
200 behind the radiator before leav- tb
lg Wilmington, as he had said. JOS ev
ph Wramer, of Taylor's Bridge, from 60
HON he said he bought the liquor,
Orroborated that part of the testi- II
lony, and William F. Long, his grand hv
lther, told of his having spent We'd in,
esday night at his house. Sc
Wainwright and Downes testified ro
lat they had met Long on the road od
Id had talked to him. Dorothy Jones, wv
ho gave her present address at 1920 bo
est Fifth street, Wilmington, told do
seeing him in Philadelphia Thurs Toa
w night. Brodie and Kaufman had 1ar
sappeared before their names were or,
lied. mr. rrn
The State contented itself with only 9
ummary cross-examination of Long To
the other witnesses for the de- tba
he. sct snf
title effort was made to prove the ,1rc Jre
lstence of a woman in the case. Jre
shua Lee Long, father of Walter, III
titled that he found surgical instru-
|nts in the pockets of the dead man
d Furman B. Long, one Of the four
n who found the body, said he E
md two women's footprints near the ed
ne. ias'
7he jury took the case at'9 o'clock. the
cir verdict was rendered at 11:15. bro
OF