Evening star., 1927-07-24
Jury DEL|BERATES
FATE OF B|RGER
Courthouse Heavily Guarded
as Trial Ends and Ver-
dict Is Awaited.
By the Associated Press.

BENTON, ILL.,, July 23.-Twelve
Jurors tonight were deliberating on
the fate Of Charles Birger, gang chief.
and his two former henchmen, Art
Newman and Ray Hyland, accused OF
Slaying Joe Adams, 300-pound mayor
of West City, last December IL.
The Jury retired with the final in
structions of Circuit Judge Charles H.
Miller at 2:O5 pm. after States At
torney Roy C. Martin had spent the
morning in a scathing denunciation OF
the gangsters, in which he asked the
Jury to give them the death penalty
land end the reign of machine gun
terrorism in southern Illinois"
Gag" Attempt Charged.
Birger, an ex-cavalry man, who has
headed the most formidable band or
coakbelt gangsters for three years, sat
silent while the prosecutor demanded
his death. His companions We're
equally quiet as they realized they
were at the mercy of jury of farmers
and miners.
"These men built their own scat
folds and put the rope about their own
necks when they came into Franklin
County and murdered Joe Adams" "
Martin declared.
Referring to the evidence that Birger
had attempted to put the gag rule
on Harry Thomasson, 19-year-old con.
fessed slayer Of Adams, the prosecutor
said
"Birger tried to keep Thomasson
from telling Of his chiefs part in siay-
ing Adams. Birger said to Ray Thorn
asson, Harry's brother, you tell Harry
to stand pat on the Adams affair or
we'll both hang for it, By those
words Birger pleaded guilty and SEN
fenced himself to DEATH
Four Alternatives Given.
Birger, the prosecutor asserted,
ordered and paid for the killing, New.
man aided in the planning and Hy-
land poisoned and split the bullets
and drove the automobile used by the
actual slayers, Harry and Elmo
Thomasson, orphan youths.
Judge Miller, in his instructions
admonished the jurors that a defend
ant must be presumed to be innocent
until proven guilty beyond a reason
able doubt" and that a defendant is
mot obliged to testify" None of the
defendants took the stand.
The jurors were given the alter.
natives Of returning verdict OF
death, life Imprisonment, prison sen
tence of not less than IA years, OF
acquittal.
AS the jurors filed into a jury cham
ber, the spectators were dismissed
Even newspaper men were not allowed
in the courtroom. Birger and the
other defendants were taken to the
county Jail to await the verdict.
Elaborate precautions against mob
demonstrations and attempts to rescue
the gangsters were taken by Sheriff
James Pritchard and deputies. OF.
ficers in the courtroom bristled with
pistols, while an automobile filled with
machine gunners guarded the prison.
ers on the way to the Jail.
Guard Is Posted.
The jury still was celebrating on
the case at 9 o'clock, with no indica.
ton as to when it might report.
Armed deputies stood guard about
the courthouse and no one was per-
mitted to approach the building.
Judge Miller said that when the
jury reported he would summon news.
paper men into the courtroom for the
verdict. He said he would receive
the verdict at any time during the
night or tomorrow.
The city square was crowded early
in the evening, but as the night wore
on those who expected a verdict be.
fore bedtime wandered homeward.
Whether Sheriff Pritchard would
agree to bring the gangsters to the
courthouse from the county Jail, three
blocks distant, tonight, was prob.
lematical.
1t was thought by some that the
verdict would be received during the
early morning hours when the streets
usually are deserted. 1t was pointed
out that the danger of any disturbance
in the event Of an acquittal thus
would be minimized.