The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-06-26

tS% "a
From out of the Boulder county
Jail comes a STRANGE story of two
men-one a condemned murderer,
and the other an alleged white
SLAYER, allied together in a way, by
the common bondage of imprison-
ment, yet pitted one against the
other, because in the heart OF the
murderer was harbored a diaboli-
cal scheme that the conscience of
the other. could not consent to.
The life of a jailer was at stake
and the liberty of Roy Walsh, con
yicted murderer of Albert Johnson,
the object of the plot. Included in
the plan was a daylight robbery of
the bank at Victor, Idaho.
The jailer was U~ndersheriff Leslie
knight of Jefferson county. The al
legged white SLAYER was R. w. Camp
bell. The latter, of no particular
qualities, rose to the heights of hero
ism in the dignity of the jail at
Boulder, for daily he guarded the
life of his captor against the plot of
Walsh. And, because he revolted
against the epithet "stool pigeon"
he carried on his vigil alone and I'M
aided until, obsessed by a fea OF
the dangerous man who was his fell
low prisoner and by the thought
that perhaps his efforts to block the
almost incredible plot might fail, he
told his captors. His story was re-
lated the day Walsh was removed
from the Jefferson county jail to the
state penitentiay.
His Weapons
A sharpened knife, a bottle of acid
a gag made of blankets and a rub
Der belt were Walsh's tools, accord
ing to Campbell. That the plot
would have been successful were it
not for the presence of Campbell in
the jail is the belief of officers.
To understand the plan, a mental
picture of the interior of the Boulder
Jail must be drawn. Walsh was con-
fined in a cage. In the cage were two
cells. A space of perhaps three feet
separates the bars of the cage from
those of the two cells. Before the
iailors entered the cage in which
Walsh was confined, they pulled a
lever which locked the prisoner in
his cell.
Back to Walsh
Undersheriff Knight would then
walk into the corridor and place the
prisoners food on a table. In SO do
ing his back would be turned to the
second cell in the cage which at all
times was open, open since the day
Walsh fashioned a key from frag-
ments of an ivory mirror and I'M
locked the door This was done
early this month. He handed the
lock and key back to the ~jailors at
the time saying, Don't put a lock on
there, I'll only take it off again. Be-
if the cell is open it gives me
room to mov around"
Approaching the futility of locks
that were within reach of the pris-
oner, no new lock was placed in the
cell.
After he had accustomed his jailor
to having him close the cell door
for him, Walsh vas ready to spring
his trap. Around his waist was a rub
Der belt, such as are supplied pris-
oners in the Missouri state peniten-
tiary.
Could Shut Door.
He attached his belt to his cell
door. He strung it taut. When the
jailor would pull the lever of the
cell door, the elastic belt would pull
the door shut. Walsh, according to
Campbell, had a dummy prepared
which he intended to place in his
bunk. The prisoner presumed that
when the cell door slammed shut the
undersheriff would u that the
prisoner was safely locwed behind
the steel doors. s
But tells Campbell, che wasn't
going to be in that cell. He was go t
.ng to be in the next cell, the one in
which Mr.. Knight had to turn his {
back. And Walsh would have his ]
gag and his knife. He planned on
the undersheriff on the '
lead, then gaging and tying him.
'Never Hang" I
"But, I think if it came to a show :
Town, he would have used the knife. '
said to him once, Roy, you >
wouldn't kill the old man. He an ;
wered with a smile, Well, what
would you do? Just leave me get my
lands on that old-and he will
lot get ahead of me this time. They'll d
ever hang me alive.'" t
Walsh's gag was made from strips a
# blankets. 1t was braided expertly b
nd would have effectively hushed