The Washington times., 1938-06-16

she Is MRS. MllQreu JoAleo'
mother of the handsome young
prisoner.
THE OTHER SIDE
Directly across the aisle sits
the slain girls father, James
Beckert, her Uncle Tony" who
was at her bedside when she died;
her brother Jimmy, who grimly
promised:
If the law doesn't take care
Of him, I will"
There too, is her sister, Theima'
looking enough like Blanche to be
her twin.
Mrs. Jones never looks at the
BeckertS-1lOr they at her. hut
the bitterness that has existed be
tween them since BlancheS mar
ri&ge, nearly two years ago. per
meates the air.
And the prisoner? There Is q
listless droop to his body. His race
has the pallor that comes from
four months in jail, and he looks
older than his "a years.
LOOKS INNOCENT
Hes q handsome boy, with
beautiful black, WaVy nar ENC
brown eyes that. even now
twinkle occasionally. AS he sits
there 50 quietly it seems haroly
possible that he could be guilty
of crushing the head OF his wiie'
whose only offense was loving him
too well. ,
Occasionally he glances at MISS
Virginia Simpson, pretty stuoenC
nurse, for whose love he Is salo "
have sacrificed everything. Tnat
he still cares for her is evident.
AS she testified for the Govern
ment-his eyes searched her race.
His glance followed her as she lett
the witness stand. For brlei sec
ond theiy eyes met-ano locKeo'
SEEMS INDIFFERENT
II the airI-who fled in horror
to her North Carolina home Wnen
the papers headlined the story OF
the brutal assault on Blancne
Landis-loves the ex-fireman' Sne
doesn't show it. .
During the five-minute recess
she laughed and chatted with q
girl companion. her manner con
trasting sharply with the grim
Tipped silence Of the Beckerts ano
the heart-rending agony OF MrS
Jones.
one could pity Lands as he
sat there-H one had not seen ms
22.year-old wife, her head SWatneo
in blood-soaked bandageS, mel
broken arm in o cast, dying IN
agony on her hospital cot.
A woman would like to run ner
fingers through the waves OF MS
black hair-if she hadn't seen
Blanche's blackened eyes and swol
len lips, and noted the ringer
marks on her slender white throat
APPARENTLY "NICE"
He doesn't look like a man cap
able Of deep passions as ne SltS
there 50 quietly. He looks Ike any
other nice young man, the kind a
9irI eoeS to the movies with-or to
His tone, as he asked his guard
for a cigarette. was almost humble
would you mind giving me a
cigarette?"
And at the hearty:
"Surest thing you know. ANY
time!"
Lands smiled, quietly, like q
man who will never laugh again
Even, the second Limerick mur
der trial could not boast q bigger
audience than that which ha'
crowded the courtroom since th'
trial opened two days ago.
CORRIDORS LINED
Every bench is filled. People
are lining the corridor facint
Justice Adkins court, peertnt
through the windows for glimps'
of the prisoner. A line Of hopetul'
Starld outside the main door houl
after hour despite the attendants
repeated:
IL =
eourtroom!"
AS Lands. followed by hi
guard, enters or leaves the tria
room, avid eyes watch his every
movement. He must feel like
guinea pig before group Of scien
lists, Yet he gives no Sign-no
even as he passes directly in from
of the murdered girls father on
his way to his seat.
It has been said that he show
M emotion and to the unobserv
ing eye it appears to be so.
BUDDY" TESTIFTES
But when his buddy Wilbu
Scarborough, testified:
Jimmy asked me if I thought
It would be all right if he gave