Evening star., 1937-05-16

HdWoly, 1OaI commune to 81
hin, at the "crdck OF da,Dn'
;n.u "Bdbs" is the daughter of
'''e' Murray.
in the abdomen. and she was taken
to Garfield Hospital, where she died
on April S.
Looking up my old story of the
shooting, was surprised to note that
I had quoted witnesses as describing
both bandits as being about feet
tall" Jordon, knew, was only about
S feet or Z.
Checks Incidental on File.
To make sure had not made a mis-
take, checked the incidental on file
at police headquarters and found that
the man who did the shooting had
been described as having gray eyes"
and fair hair"
About this time, John M. Holzworth,
former assistant district attorney for
Westchester County, N. Y, entered the
case. He was sent to see me by Whelan,
who had accepted his offer to act as
associate counsel.
Holxworth said he had begun can
vass Of the jurors, and several OF them
had given him statements to the effect
that they felt Jordons sentence should
be oommuted to one Of life imprbon-
ment. He asked II I could suggest
anything further that he might do, and
told him Of the incidental.
The incidental at police headquar-
ters," said, "is merely a digest of a
longer one on file in the precinct in
which the murder occurred. The orig
inal, written in ink by the officer who
responded to the shooting call, carries
the names and addresses of all the
witnesses. suggest that you look them
up and find out who gave the police
the descriptions used in the Incl
dental"
Meanwhile, the President had re-
fused a plea for executive clemency
from Whelan, and had started a let
ter informing him OF the Incidental
Before I had completed it, however,
Holzworth was back with 4 verbatim
copy Of the original incidental. which
he had found in the second precinct.
He also had copy of Jordon's official
record card, on file at the Jail, showing
that the condemned man was S feet
6A inches tall and had black hair and
brown eyes.
Holxworth Writes Letter.
On the basis Of this matter, to-
gether with the jurors statements,
Holzworth decided that he would write
to Mr.. Roosevelt. The first draft of
his letter contained charges against
the police and the United States at
torney's ofi1ce-the same charges, in
cidentally, which Holzworth made last
Wednesday before the House District
Committee. I advised against includ-
ing such matter in a letter to the
President and it was removed.
Holzworth's letter was delivered to
the White House in person, and mine
arrived by mail day later. Both
were forwarded to the Justice De-
pArtment, with instructions that the
case be thoroughly investigated And
this investigation resulted on May z
In the stay OF execution from the
President, who took time OF from his
tarpon fishing in the Gull of Mexico
to sign an order postponing Jordon's
electrocution from May IA 0ast Fri
day. to June IA.
The purpose Of the stay Of execu-
ton, it was understood, was to permit
the Department OF Justice to complete
its inquiry.
Holzworth was discharged by Jordon
last Monday, with the explanation
that the lawyers charges against the
police and the district attorneys Of
nee did not meet with the condemned
mans approval. Forcibly elected
from District Court when he at
tempted to protest against his dis
missal, Holzworth went to q session
Of the House committee, where he
repeated his accusations.
A subcommittee headed by Repre-
sentative Palmisano, Democrat, Of
Maryland was appointed to hear Holz-
worth-and possibly other Witnesses
Tuesday, with instructions to report
to the full committee the next day
II the subcommittee decides Holz.
worth's charges warrant investiga.
ton, 4 public hearing will be held.
Hope Of Escaping Chair.
Meanwhile, it appears that Jor-
don's only hope Of escaping the death
penalty lies with the President, the
United States Court Of Appe"ls hav.
ing refused last Wednesday to grant
him . new trial.
Is Jordon guilty?
I don't know. At first, even afte1
the interview described earlier In thil
article, was inclined to believe thai
he was. Then, after studying thu
record Of his trial, I decided that
owed 1t to myself and my newspape,
III not to Jordon-to dig into tht
case as thoroughly rs possible.
The discovery Of the incidental
however, convinced me that the ques
ton Of Jordon's guilt or innocence wa!
far from settled-that there wer,
many phases of the case that callee
for careful investigation by some such
agency as the Department Of Justice
It was for this reason that I joined