The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-05-01
Fifteen GIVEN
CLEMENCY BY
PARDON BOARD
Ten Are Recommended for
Release; Temporary
Mercy for Five.
1929 PLEAS ARE HEARD
James Pattie, Convicted
During Khan Regime, Is
Given Promise of Probe.
By United Press

here today are awaiting Governor
Harry G. Leslie's signature on
paroles recommended for them by
the prison pardon board. Ten Of
these were recommended for out
right release and five for tenn
porary clemency.
The cases of nineteen other con-
victs were continued and one prison.
er received communication of sentence.
The board heard 129 pleas in the
session which lasted late into the
night.
It was held significant that five
OF the paroles we're recommended
for men who had no representatives
before the board. OF f1fty-one men
convicted on murder charges who
appealed for clemency one was
recommended for parole and
another for temporary parole.
Included in the parole recomlnen-
dation list were the following:
Thomas Smith, sentenced in Lake
criminal court Oct. II, 1922, of rob-
berry; Stephen Meadows, st. Joseph
county, Feb. Is, 1880, burglary; Al
fred Hizer, Fulton county, Nov. IL,
1903, murder; John MCGUIRE, Shelby
county, Oct. Is, 1880, possession Of a
still.
Temporary parole recommends
tons included those of John Hus-
ton, Vanderburg county, April 2,
1913 murder, and Vernon Mikesell,
Marion county, grand larceny
charge.
Pattie Case to Be Probed
The board again heard the plea
Of James Pattie, sentenced in Spen-
Ger county, May Is, 1927, on a
charge of killing a farm hand. The
board promised an investigation Of
conditions in Spencer county and
continued the case ninety days. Pat
tie is a graduate Of Indiana uni
versity, former attorney and a Span
ish-Anlerican war veteran. His trial
was held during the ascendancy Of
the Ku-Klux Khan to power.
Clifton Knipp, Wayne county,
convicted in Floyd county court on
Nov. Is, 1921, of killing guard at
the state refornatory, was denied
parole. Edward Kraft, convicted in
Allen county July 20, 1880, of kill
ing two persons with his automobile,
was denied parole. Harvey Sheets,
Delaware county, April Is, 1917, kill
ing of Daniel Reed, was denied COM
mutation. The board indicated,
however, that if proper provision
could be made for Sheets on his re-
lease parole would be recommended.
Another Hearing Granted
Reese Maxwell, former major in
the United States reserve corps,
sentenced for arson in Marion
county June 81, 1880, will be heard
again in sixty days, when he will
have served a year Of his two to
fourteen-year sentence.
The sentence of Ernest Dallia-
gocomo, sentenced in Daviess coun-
ty for murder on change of venue
from Knox county, Sept. %, 1916,
was committed from life to sixteen
years to life. Two daughters live
in Evansville.
The board denied all other pleas
for paroles, temporary paroles and
Communication of sentence. Today
the group was to hear the cases OF
men who have completed mini
mum sentence and are eligible for
pardon. Their names were not re-
vealed.
Those whose petitions were de-
MED were: Andrew Combs, Greene
circuit court, sentenced on a charge
OF murder, Feb. 10, 1922, life. whose
parole was denied despite LOO pc
titionerS; Jack O'Connor, former
Purdue graduate, sentenced from
Marion circuit court, criminal as
sault. Jan. 8, 1929, Communication
denied; John Landreth, Lawrence
circuit court, murder, Sept. 20, 1927,
denied temporary parole, and Otha
Brodie, Greene circuit court, as
sault, Dec. q, 1929, denied conmu-
tation.
Denied Pardon or Parole
Henry Miller, sentenced in La
Porte circuit court Oct. 4, 1880, to
ten to fourteen years on a robbery
charge, was denied either a pardon
or parole,
Homer Groggens, sentenced in
Vanderburg Circuit court April 6,
1914, to life imprisonment on a
murder charge, was denied a parole,
as were Grover Kinds, sentenced in
Monroe circuit court Oct. Is, 1890,
on a charge Of transporting liquor,
and Perry lyman, sentenced in
Hancock circuit court March 5,
1915, to life for murder.
Two Granted Continuances
Francis Bruczissi, sentenced in
st. Joseph circuit .,urt June 9,
1925, to life for murder, was grant
ed ninety-day continuance for
further study, before action on his
plea for pardon.
William Middleton, sentenced to,
five to twenty-one years in Put
nam circuit court April 10, 1929, on
a robbery charge, likewise was
granted ninety-day continuance,
pending further investigation.
The board refused to grant com
mutation Of sentences to Paul H.
Reyes and William Peterson, for
mer heads of the Peterson Keyes
Automobile Company of Indianapo-
lis. They are serving two to four
teen-year sentences on pleas of
guilty in Marion criminal court to
charges of embezzlement.
No action will be taken by the
prison board until disposal Of other
indictments, pending against the
men, is effected. They are alleged
to have embezzled several thousands
Of dollars while operating a f1nan-
cial scheme in the sale of autos.