The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-01-13
college STUDENT
ITO FACE MURDER
CHARGES MONDAY
Eene AIger Will Go on Trial
at NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
at Work.
BY Charles CARL.


BY Charles CARL.
Spots of blood on a noliceman' $
I'm belt, formed after he was shot
b the heart by young college
'tudent who resisted arrest, and the
Fun which the policeman carried,
lso despatched, tell, in part. the
tory Of the death Of Patrolman
John j. Buchanan, a Negro, fatally
|hot July 9 by Gene Alger, Is, Of
|110 T.. Ohio st.
Today, young Alger wiles away
|ime in the little Jail Of Hendricks
bounty, ut panville. Ind. He will go
IN trial Monday on first-degG ee
hurder charge.
Will Ask Death Penalty
And Deputy Prosecutor Judson l..
/ tark and his assistants are prepar-
hg for a weeks trial at which they
ill ask the death penalty.
The boys attorney is preparing
b show extenuating circumstances
b free the youth or win him light
ientence.
Stark, his chief assistant; Carl
Hume, former Hendricks County
PROSECUTOR, and King Reibold, pres
mt Hendricks County prosecutor,
Ire preparing to combat the\wave Of
|ympathy for the boy.
BARRIERS Impressed
Various Danville BARRIERS who have
|haved the boy in Jail, according to
Eord brought Stark, have been i'm
PRESSED with his innocent manner
Ind spread the word among Danville
'esidents.
Buchanan, according to police and
|he prosecutors, was shot when he
pursued Alger into the Boyer Hotel.
Us N. Capitol Ave, and attempted
% arrest him. According to the
prosecution, Alger, hidden in a closet
b the hotel, fred the shot that
truck Buchanan in the heart when
The latter attempted to open the
loset door.
Alger was arrested by two other
Ulcers for an alleged attempt to
teal an automobile on Senate Ave.
lear the Statehouse. When police
Ook him to q nearby store he shot
lis way to temporary freedom and
lid in the hotel.
Admits Shooting -
He jumped out of a window and
yer a fence, struck down one man
Who tried to stop him and shot at
thers, and was captured near Hi
lois and New York SITS, after he had
|ommandeered an automobile and
|rdered the owner to "drive like
HE'LL"
Later, at city hospital, when death
|eemed near. Alger made a full state.
nent admitting shooting Buchanan.
lie recovered, and when the case
vas venued he was taken from the
Iarion County Jail to Danville
Empties Magazine
On Stark's desk lays two guns.
)ne is Spanish-American war
ype, and poorly taken care of. This
vas Ayers. The other, with blood
pots on it, in the holster attached
% the blood spattered cartridge belt,
vas Buchanan's.
Alger, in his dash. had shot the
ull magazine-siX bullets in all.
buchanan had fired only four.
Other possessions the boy carried
It the time were thirteen additional
eadheaded bullets and a thin strip
IF steel, which was either used in
bis effort to steal the auto or re
hove cartridges from the revolver
|hamber.
Alibis Established
When the trial begins the State
will show that Buchanan left his
post of duty at Capitol and Indiana
Aves to join in the chase after
Niger and staggered down the hotel
hallway 100 feet before whispering
rs he collapsed: Partner, they've
lot me"
ON the other side. will sit the youth
vho said he was trying to steal
he car to sell so his mother "woudn' t
have to work to help him get through
school."
King, Ayers attorney, also will
lttempt to prove, it is believed, that
Niger was not attempting to steal
he machine, on which charge he
vas being arrested. Alger has said
he lost his nerve and was leaving the
machine unmolested when arrested.