The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-12-29

Franklin. La, Dec. 29.-(NEA)-A
small-town physician and his married
light-o' love, who chose to take the
Snyder Gray murder case as a model
of action when their mixed lives came
to q crisis. will hang in the courtyard
of the red-brick parish Jail here on
Jan. S unless Governor Huey p. Long
changes his mind.
of Morgan City-a middle-aged. re-
spectacle leader Of the "aristocracy'
of that small town. The woman is
Mrs. Ada Bonner LeBoeuf. wife Of a
power plant superintendent and
mother Of six children.
II she goes to the scaffold - and
the governor has indicated he will
no. interfere IN the case-she will be
the first white woman hanged in
Louisiana. Not even In the days Of
Spanish and French dominion has a
white woman ever been executed In
the state. although in colonial days
one Molly Glass. an octoroon. was
hanged In jackson Square, New Or
leans.
The proposed double execution has
stirred the state. Originally. the
hanging was set for Dec. 81, but 1t
was postponed on account Of Christ
mas.
Since the reprieve was granted the
state pardons board has reversed a
former decision and recommended
life imprisonment for the pair. Gov
ernor Long intimated that this rec
ommendation would be refused but
deferred action thereon.
Copied Snyder Gray Case
DR.. Dreher was one Of the leading
citizens Of Morgan City. Mrs. Le-
Boeuf was the wife of James LeBoeuf.
city power plant superintendent
They had been intimate for some
time, and LeBoeuf's suspicious had
been aroused-so much 50 that he is
said to have threatened the life of
the doctor.
At that time the Snyder-G Gray case
was much in the newspapers. These
small town lovers read about 1t and
decided to copy 1t. They admitted
as much after their arrest. So they
arranged a meeting with LeBoeuf for
one night on Lake Palourde. just out
side the town, Ito talk things over. !"
With them they took James Beadle. a
trapper and also q hired man for DR..
Dreher.
When LeBoeuf's boat reached the
rendezvous he was shot to death.
Beadle slashed his body with knife.
weighted it down with railroad iron.
rowed two hundred feet out into the
lake and tossed it overheard.
Luck was against them. Lake
Palourde was in flood at the time,
and they had rowed in the wrong
direction. LeBoeufs body fell in
shallow water, and when the flood
receded it was exposed to view. Had
they rowed an equal distance an an
other direction the. body would have
gone down 200 feet and the crime
might have escaped detection.
When they were arrested Bcadle
lost his nerve, pleaded guilty and
took q life sentence. The doctor and
Mrs. LeBouef chose to fight it out.
Trial Was Sensational
Their trial was the sensation Of
the state. The little courtroom was
jammed. Located in the middle of
the Bayou Teche country, exile land
of the old Acadians, 1t Is region Of
beautiful plantation houses, where
for two centuries there has been an
ordered social life based on breeding
and culture. Sons and daughters OF
the most distinguished families in the
state attended the trial.
DR.. Dreher, broad d-shouldered and
handsome, sat at the trial table with
his pale, suffering wife, his son, q
medical college student. and his two
daughters, both OF whom are college
girls. Close beside him sat Mrs. Le-
Boeuf, her face heavily plastered In
powder and touched up sharply with
rouge. Her children were too small
to be present.
The story that developed ct the
trial was sordid enough. It was told
that the doctor and his paramour
had q system Of signals. II Mrs. Le-
Boeuf hung q pillow slip on . win
dow sill, Is II to air it, It meant that
her husband was ct home.
Donned Wife's Clothes
It was told that LeBoeuf, driven
frantic BY suspicion and jealousy.
dressed in his wife's clothes one eve
ming and drove about the town In the
dusk, . shotgun by his side. hoping
that DR.. Dreher would see him. mis-
take him for Mrs, LeBoeuf and In
crimiuate himself enough to justify
LeBouef In emptying the shotgun in
to his breast.
The defense counsel fought bitter
", and when the verdict was against
them they continued their fight.
They took their case to the United
States supreme court, and lost. They
had il Of the Jurors sign petition
for clemency-the 18th had gone ia
Texas. Then, in seeking clemelncy
the convicted pair told an entirely
new story Of the killing, saying that
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