Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-02-06
Two Accused Spies
Go on Trial for Lives
Before Army Court
~ the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Pfesa.
NEW YORK, Feb. GA native
American, William Curtis Cole
paugh, Is, and German born Erich
Gimpel, IS, accused Of slipping into
this country from submarine to
act as spies for Germany, went on
secret trial for their lives today be-
fore q military commission.
The defendants were William Cur
tbs Colepaugh, 26-year-old native Of
Mantle, Conn.,, and Erich Gimpel,
IS, German-born electrical engineer.
They are charged with slipping
ashore near the remote Maine fish,
ing village of Hancock Point Novem-
Der 20 after being brought to this
country by a German submarine to
commit espionage. sabotage and
other hostile acts as agents Of the
German Reich.
Held in Guardhouse.
While awaiting trial, they were
confined by the Army for the last
two weeks to the 138-year -old Cas-
tie Williams, Governors Island guard
house with stone walls 40 feet high
and 8 feet thick.
The trial is being held on that 49,
acre island. mile east of the Statue
OF Liberty in Upper New York Bay.
The trial got under way shortly
after . am. with such secrecy that
hundreds of employees on the island
passed the building where the COM
mission sat without knowing that a
military trial was in progress.
Each person admitted to the build
ing was required to take an oath of
secrecy. The official reporter, an
Army captain designated by the
military commission to serve as its
liaison officer with the public, was
sworn to secrecy before he received
a special pass to 60 to Governors
Island.
Report to Be Censored.
The official reporters account of
the trial will be submitted to the
commission and to representatives
of the Department of Justice, who
will decide what portion will be re-
leased to newspapers.
The seven-member commission,
headed by Col. Clinton j. Harold,
arranged to issue communicates twice
daily, at 2 pm, and pm, on the
trials progress. Reporters and
photographers are not permitted to
go to Governors Island for the trial.
In the summer of 1912, a similar
commission sitting in Washington
convicted eight Nazi U-boat- LANDED
saboteurs. Six were executed, one
was sentenced to life imprisonment
at hard labor and another to 80
years.
Formal CHARGES Listed.
The formal charges against Cole
paugh and Gimpel, who the FBI
said were trained in schools for
spies in Berlin, Dresden and The
Hague, we're:
l. That they violated the law of
war. that as enemies of this coun-
try they secretly passed through our
and naval lines for the pur-
hOcO Va SSAAAA414GCAA16 CpR1OIldSCy 6dbO.
tage and other hostile acts.
2. That they acted as spies for the
German Reich in violation of the
82d Article of War.
3. That an enemies they con-
spired, plotted and planned to COM
NIT certain acts of espionage and
A spokesman for the I'd Service
Command said that If two-thirds |
d. the members of the commission
voted for conviction on the second
,harge-that they acted as spies
The death sentence would be man
datory.
Conviction on the other two
counts would bring long prison
terms, he said.
Members of the military commits
sion in addition to Col. Harold are:
Col. Lathrop r. Bullene, Col. John
B. Grier, 1t. Col. Harlan Besson,
Maj. Thomas j. Maginnis, Mai.
Basil B. Elmer and Maj. Edward
A. Belanger.
Other officers assigned to the trial
were: Maj. Robert Carey, jr., trial
judge advocate; First 1t. Kenneth
F. Graf, assistant trial Judge adj
vocate; Maj. Thayer Chapman, de-
Tense counsel for Colepaugh; Mai.
Robert B. Buckley, assistant counsel
for Colepaugh; Maj. Charles H.
Reagin, defense counsel for Gimpel,
and Maj. John E. Hagney, assistant
counsel for Gimpel.
Russia