The Washington times., 1931-08-14


Prosecutor Rapp stated that
he would go to Jackson this
afternoon or early tonight to
grill the torch slayers in con-
nection with recent attacks on
several girls in Washtenaw
county. He explained:
'T have information that
Smith used to blacken his face
before going out on these jobs
and I'm going to question him.
"On April 10, a girl was
taken from her escort and at
tackled by two negroes. 1t
might have been Smith and
Blackstone.
"Then, on August 6, an auto
mobile was found burned. 1t
is believed its occupants were
slain and their bodies thrown
into the river. 1 believe Smith
can clear up these crimes"
Another Car Burned
Harry Vail, watchman on a
motor company property near
where the burned car was found,
said:
81 saw men acting SUSPECT
Ously near the car before it was
set afire."
Detectives Clayton Lein and
Ray Hasse, of Detroit, expressed
the belief also that before the
burning of the car its occupants
were slain. Lein said:
eff any bodies are recovered,
one of them undoubtedly will
be that of a woman"
Equal to 24O Years
Judge George Sample, when he
imposed life terms on the killers,
said:
II am giving you a life term
for each of the four murders.
We consider the average span
of life so years. You have no
hope of parole; yet this pun
ishment is too good for you"
The sentences were tantamount
to terms of 24O years in prison
apiece for the admitted slayers.
No parole is possible.
Miss Keller, when arrested in
an early morning raid on her
home bitterly said:
g I hate cops. Why
don't they leave me alone. I'm
not guilty of anything"
Second Gun Seized
The woman was dressed in a
faded green dress. She wore no
stockings and her hair was in
disorder. Police seized a second
revolver and some bloody clothes
belonging to Smith in the wom-
ans home.
The niece of the late Judge
Darwin Curtis, Miss Keller was
reported to have inherited $35, 900.
She said:
ut all dwindIed away in
debts. / had to take in board.
ers to make a living. Smith
sometimes stayed at my home.
That's as much as 1 know
about It,"
Finding of a second death
weapon and the horrible confes-
sions Of the three murderers led
police to believe that more than
one of the young victims had
been shot. Harry Lore. Is;
Thomas Wheatley. IT; Vivian
Gold, IS, and Anna May. Harri-
son, II, were the four youngsters
cruelty slain and cremated.
LynChing Avoided
Public sentiment has mounted
rather than died out. Two sepa-
rate attempts to lynch the men
were made last night by mObs
of 10000 when the criminals
were tried and sentenced in one
of the shortest trials in the his
tory of the country.
Judge Sample meted out the
severest punishment allowed un-
der Michigan law. There is no
death penalty in this State. The
aroused public today agreed with
the judge who, in sentencing the
killers, said:
"ThiS testimony made me
sick. i can't imagine such deg
radiation. If you live 1000
years you will not be fit to
come back into society. I don't
wonder that the mObs are
bowling for vengeance"
Four Slain For So
Mrs. Burt Lore, the mother of
young Lore, said:
81 am glad that the guilty
ones are caught. But nothing
brings nay son back to me. And
he was killed for S."
Two dollars was the amount Of
loot which the three bandits OBJ
tanned in the holdup before they
attacked the girls and killed the
two boys.
Smith. one of the fiends, de-
clared that:
"It was the liquor that did
It,"
Smith and his companions