Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-13
WH|TTEMORE GOES
TO DEATH CALMLY
"Good-By, Best Could Wish
Anybody" Last Words of
Bandit Slayer.

BALTIMORE, Md. August 13.--
Richard Reese Whittemore, leader of
a young bandit gang that set for
itself goal of a billion dollars in
loot. died on the gallows here shortly
after midnight this morning In the
Maryland penitentiary, where he
slew a guard in escaping a year
and a half ago.
The end came quickly for the
youthful criminal who led his fol-
lowers to robbery of nearly $1,000
900 of the fabulous sum they sought.
At midnight he said II wish to say
good-by. the best I could wish any
body" At 1908 Eastern standard
time his body plunged through the
trap. At 1o:22, IA minutes later.
he was pronounced dead
Less than 20 minutes had elapsed
after he stepped onto the scaffold
platform at 1906 when his body, in
Its casket. was wheeled out OF the
death chamber. 1t was claimed by
relatives for funeral services at the
home OF his father, Rawlings v.
Whittemore.
Farewell at Death Cell.
The elder Whittemore and Mrs
Margaret Whittemore, the slayers
wife, bade him farewell several
hours before the execution, separated
from him by heavy fine-meShed
screen which encased the death cell.
Mrs. Whittemore was weeping
Historically as she left the prison
for the last time, but Whittemore
appeared mistaken and remained SO
to the end.
The youthful ganGSter. after shak-
ing hands with prison officials in the
death cell corridor. dropped his last
cigarette from his lips and walked
steadily through the small door lead
ing to the execution platform. is feet
above the floor of the oblong death
chamber. A faint smile which was on
his face left it when he stood erect
over the trap and made his brief state
ment in a clear voice. The black
hood was drawn over his head and his
shrouded figure had dropped through
the platform just two minutes after
he had appeared in the narrow door
way above the heads of the witnesses.
lie died of broken neck and was
pronounced dead after six eXamina-
tions by three official attending physi-
clans. Dr. Albert J. Anderson, resi-
ucIIt pIiS 49, SS4AAA
I. Hogan and DIR. Frank j. Powers
Guard Slain With Bar.
Wh:ttemUre. serving a f5-year SEN
tence for burglary, fatally beat Rob
ert H. Hoffman, a 60-year-old guard,
with an iron bar on February 20, 1929.
and walked out OF the hospital gate
of the penitentiary
Although az outs With the Jaw from
the age of short trousers. Nhittemore
was cast in a petty role until. at The
age of % and with moose dangling
above his head. he crowded into the
space of a few months most OF the
highlightS of fiction bandit s life.
He was comparatively little
known gunman, with prison reputa-
ton for being hard" when, serving
a term for burglary, he walked out
of Maryland penitentiary on February
90. 1925. with the keys of mortally
wounded guard Thirteen months
later. when a New York police night
patrol picked him up as a suspicious
character after a ChaSe at guns points
from the door Of night club. he was
the active head of one of the EaSt'S $
most successful criminal organiza-
tions of recent years.
Whittemore went to the gallowS for
Slaying the guard-kobert ii. HOLT
man. Hoffman, his skull crushed by
an iron bar. died two days after
Whittemore escaped. Whether Whit
temore actually was guilty OF other
murders laid by police at his door, or
that OF his gang. may never be known,
Operations in Many Cities.
Baltimore. New York, Chicago,
Cleveland and Buffalo were included
in the Whittemore gangs scope of
operations. Many lucrative hauls were
made from New York jewelry estab.
lishments. The 'milliondollar crime
trust" so dubbed later by police be-
cause Of the fabulous goal set. and re-
ported nearly reached when the crime
organization was shattered, revealed
itself as an almost entirely self-sup-
porting crime unit when police dug
into it's secrets. II had its own private
fences" for receiving Siolen goods
and maintained its own y.ha nnels of
disposal. realizing a much higher
profit on its loot than is usually the
IContinusd on Page = Column ~