Evening star., 1936-03-26
JORDAN CASE GOES
TO JURY AF TER S.
DEMANDS DEATH
Fate of Man Accused of Tea
Shop Murder in Hands
of II Men.
FERMENTATION PROOF
UNNEEDED, COURT SAYS
Instructions Are Deliberate NAL
ice Is Assumed if Staying
Came During Hold-up.
BY w. H. SHIPPEN, Jr.

The case of Thomas Jordan went
to a jury in District Supreme Court
shortly before noon today after the
Government demanded the death
penalty for the 29-year former
convict on trial in the hold-up-slaylng
of a Garden T Shoppe cashier.
Justice F. Dickinson Let's instruct
ed the jury of II men that the ele-
ment of deliberate and premed1ated
malice does not have to be proved II
the Jurors are convinced the murder
was committed by the detedant
during robbery. The justice pointed
out it might be assumed that an
armed robber would shoot If that was
necessary in his purpose of completing
the robbery.
Jordan, former bus boy, is charged
with shooting Mrs. Lizzie S. Jaynes.
ST, after robbing her of Sl0l on the
night of April 3, 1881, in the res
taurant on Columbia road near
Eighteenth street.
Was Indicted Jointly.
Jordan was jointly indicted With
Miss Edith Dodsworth, waitress at
the restaurant who had been dis
charged some time previous to the
robbery and since has been sought
by the police In two signed con-
fessions given to police, Jordan said
he committed the robbery with Miss
Dodsworth and an unidentified man.
In his closing statement Assistant
District Attorney Roger Robb told the
Jury: IF you will deal with this
man now. we'll deal with his accom-
plices when we get them. We don't
need his testimony to convict these
other two persons
Defense Attorney Richard Bowman
contended the confessions were made
because Jordan feared he would involve
his fiancee in the case and because
police promised him manslaughter
penalty. Jordan repudiated the con-
fessions on the stand. Justice Let's
told the jury they were to weigh the
possibility that the confessions might
have been obtained through force.
threats or promise of inducement
while determining their credibility.
Shooting Held Accident.
While not admitting Jordan par
ticipated in the robbery, Attorney
Bowman told the jury that if they
were convinced Jordan was present, he
was entitled to a verdict of second
degree murder because the shooting
was accidental.
In his confessions, Jordan said he
shot when a customer entered and
logged his arm as he was leaving
the restaurant after collecting the re-
ceipts of the cash register. Justice
Let's said a second-degree verdict
should be returned if the jury was
convinced Jordan shot accidentally
while committing the robbery.
Throughout the closing statements
this morning William Jaynes, widower
of the victim of the murder, sat in a
front row and followed the proceed
ings. The gray-haired man previously
had testified that Jordan admitted to
him he had shot Mrs. Jaynes.
iii Juror Receivers.
Charles S. Lewis, the juror whose
illness caused the early adjournment
of the four-day trial yesterday after
noon, had recovered and was back in
the box when court reconvened this
morning.
Jordan and Miss Dodsworth were
arrested after the shooting and
charged with conspiracy to rob. They
later were released and Jordan went
to Atlantic City and Mount Vernon,
N. Y.
The case was reopened when Jor-
dan wrote a letter to United States
Attorney Leslie c. Garnett explaining
he planned to be married and wished
to be sure he had been cleared Of
suspicion.
The Government introduced the girl
as a witness against Jordan. She ex-
planned Jordan had told her his con-
science was troubling him about a
GOOD Friday hold-up in Washing
ton" and she advised him to write
the letter to get it off his mind.