Evening star., 1936-04-03

mann faced execution tonight for the
identical crime.
The authoritative explanation Of the
situation is almost as astonishing a;
have been many Of the previous weiro
events that have taken place since the
curly-haired namesake Of Col. Charles
A. Lindbergh was snatched from his
crib March /, 1882, and killed.
The trouble was, it developed today
that the grand jury had no forma
complaint against Wendell at all be-
fore it.
Complaint Not Received.
The formal complaint on which
Wendell was arraigned Sunday. am
to which he pleaded not guilty. ha
not yet come before the grand jury
With no complaint before 1t. no mt
bill" could be voted.
When the grand jury asked for th'
complaint last night, the prosecutor
office was reported to have said th'
paper had not yet been received from
the magistrate before whom Wende
was arraigned.
A mo bill" will be voted, according
to present indications, next week, aftel
the jury looks into several minor phase
OF the charges against Wendell. Thes'
angles are expected further to ex'
onerate Wendell.
At the grand jury hearing last nigh
the final witness was Wendell, and n
spent more than three hours telling
his story. The tale OF torture tha'
drove him. he said, to confess thu
crime Of which he now says he hae
no knowledge, recited that he:
Was kidnapped at the point Of CUR
in Manhattan.
Was taken to house on Emmon,
avenue in Brooklyn and kept prisoner
there by four men for 10 days.
Was Chained to Wall"
Was chained to the wall, tied al
intervals by his thumbs, burned BY
cigarettes held against his flesh
beaten and kicked: and that the tor.
ture was for the purpose Of making
him sign q confession to the Lind
bergh baby murder.
Finally wrote and signed the ICON.
fessions" after which he was taken
by automobile to Mount Holly and
let out near the home of Detective
Ellis Parker.
Spent the night at the Parker home
and later was taken to the State
colony for the feeble-minded at New
Liqon.
And that on last Saturday he was
turned over to Mercer County au-
thorities and placed in jail here on a
murder charge.
The grand jury was exercising It's
broad powers when it plunged into
the Wendell investigation Tuesday of
its own initiative, for its members
realized Bruno Hauptmann was SEN
fenced to die that same night for the
same crime, and they felt that If
there was merit in the charges against
Wendell, then there must be good rea-
son why Hauptmann's execution
S1lOuIQ IlOt lake pIdCe.
Postponed Until Tonight.
It was with this thought that the
foreman of the grand jury. Allyne
Freeman, telephoned the prison
warden almost on the hour set for
execution and requested 1t be de-
layed 48 hours to permit the grand
jury to investigate interesting angles"
Of the case.
The warden, Col. Kimberling, acted
upon the request and postponed the
execution until tonight. But tonight
there will be no further request upon
the warden to spare Hauptmann's life.
so far as the Mercer grand jury Is
concerned.
That left it squarely up to Gov.
Hoffman, whose succinct comment less
than week ago-"no second reprieve"
seemed to close even that door to
Hauptmann's hope.
But many high official sources were
confident that the Governor, now
firmly committed to full inveStiga-
ton of the entire Lindbergh case,
would find way to prolong the Bronx
carpenters life, even in the case Of
Attorney General Wilentz's opinion
that his power of reprieve has expired.
As one ofi1cial put it:
did you ever see him Gov. Hoff-
mani quit?"
Another ''last day" found Haupt-
mann cheered by the assurances of
his wife, Anna, that she was confident
he would not die tonight; that he
would escape the chair again as he
has thrice before.
Faces New Test Of Nerves.
The nerves of the man, put to an
extreme, torturing test last Tuesday
night when up to the very last min
ute he had no reason to doubt that
he would die, faced a similar test to-
day; perhaps greater one, for his
chances Of escape seem most meagre.
There have been repeated sugges-
tions that the former German ma
chine gunner could avoid the black
leather mask Of the death chair-the
tightly-clamped leg electrode, the
skullcap that carries lethal lightning
into his body-by a last minute con-
fession.
Attorney General Wilentz was the
first to suggest such possibility as
long ago as February, 1885, when in
his bitter summation at Flemington
he said: when he hears that switch
then he will talk"
II he should talk that In itself
might be considered sufhcient reason
for interrupting the execution. But
in the letter "of a dying
man" to Gov. Hoffman last Tuesday
reiterated his willingness but help
lessness to give any information that
might solve the crime.
Whatever the night held for him,
knew he would see his