The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-09
NEGROES IN JAIL SAY SERUM USED
AK Suspects Maintain They Have Made No Confession
 I'm Right Minds

Although denying emphat1cally that they had givene either oral or written confessions to officials while under the influence of truth se- rums" or afterward.s Peyton Johnson, Odell Jackson and Fred Glover, held in the county jail on charges of mur- der, spoke freely Tuesday to an Age Herald reporter about the use of the serum and it's effects. Another negro, arrested in connection with one of the ax murders but.flater released, will begin suit in circuit court Fri day through Roderick Beddow. his attorney for s50.000, damages, charg- ing false arrest and maltreatment, including use of the alleged serum" in an attempt to get a confession out of him.
 When interviewed in his office Monday afternoon, Sheriff Thomas J. Shirley denied that he knew person ally about the use of serum" but admitted that it might have been used by others on alleged murderers during his recent absence from the city. Other county officials refused to deny or confirm the report that alleged confessions had been ob- tained through it's use.
 Stories Practically Same.
 Although the three alleged mur- derers have been kept in solitary confinement since being placed in jail, they told practically the same story when interviewed at different times. 'sEach spoke of "a doctor that wore glasses" two Or three assist ants, a, hypodermic syringe, two or three injections in the arm, feeling of. having been doped, and, in one or two cases, day or two of feeling bad" All three denied. that they lad ever confessed to participation in any of the ax murders with which they are charged. <
 Three men came with 8 doctor to my cell and took me to the doctors office about 2 o'clock one morning" said Fred Glover, the negro arrested after Mrs. Edwin Sparks had been struck on the head in a vacant lot about a month ago and alleged to have confessed to a share in long series of ax attacks. They shot me two times in both arms and be- gan to ask me questions. They asked me what time it was and tried to get me to tell about a murder. but I didn't have anything to tell. I nearly went crazy and couldn't think about what f was saying. It seemed that it took me several minutes to say a word. I was so sick l couldn't stand up. After an hour they came back and asked me some more questions. They asked me if struck anybody and who was with me-"
 When asked what night 1t was that the injection was supposed to have been made, Glover said he could not remember, but finally said he thought 1t was the Wednesday night before Christmas. He said when he was carried to the doctors office he found Odell Jackson, another alleged ax murderer, there. When inter- viewed later, Jackson stated that he had been subjected to the serum the Wednesday night before Christmas.
 T got three shots in the right arm and one in the left arm," he said. They asked me if had tied anybody's hands. I didn't confess anything ard haven't signed any paper unless they took my hand and made me write while I was asleep" Slept For Several Hours.
 All three negroes stated that they were made to remove their coats and take the vaccine. They said they slept for several hours after it be- gan to take effect.
 Rufus Anthony, another negro ar- [ rested in connection with one of the ax murders, will file a suit next Friday for s50,o00 against Tony and Ernest Romeo for alleged false ar rest and maltreatment after being arrested. He Is said to have been arrested as an accessory in the mur- der of Mrs. Elizabeth Romeo October 22. He says he was kept several days in the city jail and later trans- ferred to the county jail. where he says the serum was used. He was later released, but claims he was severely injured by the injection and that it affected several parts of his body.
 The doctor and two other men came to my cell and made me take off my clothes" he said Tuesday afternoon to an Age Herald reporter. "I was shot in both arms. I wasn't sick before, but that stuff surely made me sick. It was about the color of corn whisky.
 All four negroes described the hypodermic syringe alleged to have been used in making the injections, and the stories told agreed in most of the details.
 While refusing to admit that he knew of the use of the serum Sheriff Shirley expressed confidence that the three men and one woman In custody were the ones responsible for the A ax attacks that resulted in "A deaths in Birmingham. He said. however, that other arrests rrobably would he made