The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-12-30
MUNClE BLOND
Held AS HEAD
OF BANK GANG
Former Carnival Trouper
Called Brains of State
Bandit Band.
SHERIFF DENIES GUILT
Net Rapidly Closing About
Pair Now in Jail, Says
Bureau SIeuth.
BY ARCH EDDY
United Press Stan Correspondent

PORTLAND, Ind, Dec. 30.--A
middle-aged blond, former carnival
trouper, and sheriff who, if charges
are true, was traitor to his oath of
duty. today were accused as plotters
to put bank robbery on business
basis.
In jail were Sheriff Ira Barton,
20, of Blackford county, whose term
of Office ends Thursday, and Mrs.
Hazel E. Green, AZ, Muncie, both
charged with conspiracy and Access
sorry before the fact in a series Of
Indiana bank raids.
Chief Investigator Charles Bolte
of the state criminal bureau faced
the prisoners with rapidly grow
ing mass of circumstantial evidence
substantiating, he said, confessions
by captured members Of the gang.
This woman is the brains behind
one of the most active bank rob-
berry gangs that ever operated in
the midwest" Bolte said.
Prisoners Make Charges
The revelation of the plot came
when Lorenz Capetelli and Frank
Valentino, captured by posse
Christmas eve after the robbery of
the Dunkirk, Ind, bank, charged
Barton double crossed them.
Valentino and Albert Erabetta,
a companion, pleaded guilty to rob-
bing the bank and have been SEN
4ov.nol - %,1,o,,fxy uaor v,,icOV1 toy21oe
Capetelli at his wife's plea, said he
was not guilty.
Mrs. Green, whom ploice said
they had suspected in several previ-
Gus robberies, was described by
Bolte as having influenced the
sheriff to join in the gang opera
tions.
Bolte said the gang was promised
aid in obtaining layouts of Black
ford county banks and that police
officers were lured from their pests
to make the raids easier.
wife Pleads for Truth
Police Of Hartford City, Mt. Sum-
nit, and Montpelier, where banks
were raideG, corroborated this phase
of the bandits confession.
The bandits said they had also
arranged that If they were jailed in
Blackford county their escape would
be arranged within few hours"
Barton, who was well-to-do
farmer until he won election as a
peace officer. maintained silence
when accused of the plot, except for
an occasional burst of weeping. He
sobbed when his wife, whom he
married only few weeks ago, after
being divorced Sept. %, pleaded
with him to tell her the truth re-
garding the charges.
Capetelli and Valentino told au-
thorities the gang had met several
times in Muncie at Mrs. Green's
apartment, which was used as a
rendezvous and hideaway from
which the raiding operations were
directed.
Blackford county residents said
the sheriff had been an industrious
official, but not overly popular. In
recent months he had been, they
said, something of a reformer, cru
sading against liquor law violators
and other criminals
Check Shcriff's Bank Account
Mrs. Green had visited at least
one of the towns where a bank was
raided with a travelling carnival.
Police believed Mrs. Green Per-
Suaded the sheriff to enter the plot
with promises of considerable loot
The officers bank accounts and ex-
penditures were being checked in an
effort to learn if there had been any
abnormal deposits or purchases in
recent months.
Mrs. Green, Bolte said was known
in the underworld at Muncie and
was believed to have acted as tip
Ster for Muncie city officials.
The officer declared she was
found in the vicinity of the bandits
on several of their raids and was
believed to aided in preliminary
work and in making getaways. The
woman was not believed to be
wealthy.
Barton moved Monday from the
jail, where he had lived during his
term of office, to a new residence
he just had built.