The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-09-17
COOLIDGE NJ 4 Y
BE ASKED To
FREE BOY
Friends of Perrygo Cite Case
of Leopold and Loeb in
Offering Petition
CONTINUED from Page I'D

tCOlk1nu6Q from rags liJ
is under way to save Edgar" he
said, for if there was ever boy
who should not be hung. Perrygo
is the one. Perrygo is not normal
and the National Capital would be
disgraced If the boy was hung"
-Four Years in Death Row"
Perrygo is held at the District
Jail. He has been in the death
row" for -four years. from several
days after Mrs. Mary Emily Faith
full died in a local hospital from
wounds received when Perrygo
struck her over the head with an
iron bar. The boy robbed her to
gain money to marry a fourteen.
year-old girl.
Every night and morning in the
jail Perrygo kneels down, turns his
head upward and prays that his
life be spared.
His Jail record is perfect, Jail
officials looking upon him as a
model prisoner.
The, young boy has made many
friends since he was incarcerated.
His case has attracted the atten.
ton of every visitor to the institu-
ton. It. was only two years ago
that the late Bishop Harding, OF
the Episcopal Church here, made
special visit to the Jail to con.
firm the lad,
The date of Perrygos hanging
has been changed several times,
allowing Attorney 0'Shea to make
appeals. The case was before the
Court OF Appeals last spring and
O'Shea presented arguments for a
new trial. Then came the death OF
Chief Justice Smythe. After that
the case was. ordered reheard and
O'Shea will argue again next
month.
Born At Asylum.
Perrygo was born within the
grounds of the st. Elizabeths Gov
eminent Hospital for the insane and
Doctor William A. White, super
intendent Of that institution, testi
| fled for the boy when the lad was
tried for murder in 1920. Doctor
White, whose testimony in the
Loeb and Leopold case was partially
responsible for the boys escaping
the gallows. said Of Perrygo at the
time:
There are certain outstanding
facts in connection with the crime
which make it quite evident that
the boy is suffering from a marked
mental defect.
The very crime itself and the
way in which it was committed
shows that the boy was lacking iT
control and judgment.
| 'The crime was committed wheT
the boy knew that there were Other
persons in the house, and when hi
knew that his presence there was
known to such persons, and tha'
there would be no possibility Of
providing an alibi. There was M
effort whatever to cover up tn.
evidence of the crime'
That Perrygo was suffering from
a defective mentality, Doctor White
continued, was borne out by fea
lures in the testimony in the case
which are historically typical o.
persons with defective person
Symptoms Apparent.
Among these features, as show
by the testimony. he said are the
somnambulistic tendencies of the
boy; the evident distress in the
head indicated by frequent head
aches. and the fact that the boy
would repeatedly knock his head
against hard substances: dizziness
tendencies of the defendant to wan
der away from home; the fact thai
he was quiet and moody and moi
like other boys, and that fact tina.
he would constantly leave his worh
and wander away.
The murder occurred In February
1920. Perrygo was in love with
fourteen-year-old Mabel Hill, OF
Oxen Hill, Nd, a neighbor. and
wanted to marry. He had no money
He went to the home of Mrs. Faith
full, friend whom he knew carried
large sums of money with her. He
struck her across the head several
times with an iron bar he brought
with him. He fled and was arrested
later with the girl in the home OF
a relative in southeast Washington
Mrs. Faithful died a few days later
The mother of young Perrygo is
visitor at the Jail every week
She brings him food and things to
read. Sometimes she joins with hel
boy in praying for the lads life.
The appeal to President Coolidge
| ia oYnapfed m create uyida intoroct