Evening star., 1951-02-27


-AP Photo.
MRS. ROSA COLLAZO
Leaving District Court.
Fay said, twas planned and plotted
to the exact second and it is i'm
possible to tell which of the plot
ters fired first"
Pvt. Coffelt was seated in a
booth at the west side of the Blair
House entrance. Torresola walked
to the open door of the booth and
fired three shots. AS the officer
slumped over, Torresola leaped a
small hedge and started toward
the Blair House entrance steps.
At the same moment, Mr.. Fay
said, Collazo had walked up be-
hind Pvt. Birdzell. who was
standing directly in front OF
the Blair House entrance. Col
lazo's gun missed fire when he
first pulled the trigger and Bird
zel wheeled to face him and was
shot in the leg. The policeman
retreated to the middle Of Penn
sylvania avenue to draw fire away
from the Blair House and Collazo
took up a position on the steps Of
the temporary White House, fir
ing at Officer Birdzell, Mr.. Fay
said.
Downs Wounded by Torresola.
Pvt. Downs, attracted by the
sound of gunflre at Pvt. Cof-
felt's booth, had started in
that direction when Torresola
opened fire on him and wounded
him three times.
Torresola then joined Collazo in
shooting Pvt. Birdzell and one of
his shots struck the officer in his
right leg. Pvt. Coffelt, meanwhile,
had drawn his service revolver and
while slumped down in his booth
fired a single shot which struck
Torresola in the head, killing him
almost instantly. AS Torresola
fell, Collazo was struck in the
chest by a bullet fired by Secret
Service men advancing to the
stairway from the booth at the
east end of the Blair House.
When Collazo was taken to
Emergency Hospital he was placed
in a receiving room close to Pvt.
Birdzell. A nurse asked the OFF,
Ger who shot him, Mr.. Fay said,
and Pvt. Birdzell pointed to Col
lazo and said, That joker there" "
"For Political Reasons"
Later, Mr.. Fay toid the jury. the
nurse asked Collazo. did you
want to shoot our PRESIDENT"
Mr.. Fay said Collazo replied,
eyes. I'm a Puerto Rican Ma
tionalist and I had to do it,"
When the nurse asked him how
he received his wound, Collazo re-
piled, according to Mr.. Fay:
IT was in shooting. I had to
do some shooting at the Blair
House for political reasons"
That night, according to Mr..
Fay, Collazo in response to ques-
tions by Secret Servicemen, CON
firmed in more elaborate detail
what he had told the nurses"
Collazo's statement was reduced
to writing, Mr.. Fay said, and the
Government will offer it to the
jury.
First prosecution witness to take
the stand was White House Police
Pvt. Edward j. Tehan, buddy Of
Pvt. Coffelt. He merely testified
that he had identified the slain
officers body at the District
Morgue.
Deputy Coroner Christopher j.
Murphy said Pvt. Coffelt was shot
once in the left side and twice in
the abdomen. Any one Of the
wounds could have proved fatal,
he testified.
Members of Jury.
Members of the jury, which in
clude two colored women and
one colored man. are:
TlnnYNY1cnY7
3138h o street NV; Mrs. Sophie
Mandell, 4607 Connecticut avenue
NV: Mrs. Margaret K. Teachout
4410 Volta place NV; Mrs. Helen
D. Vaughan, 1859 Twenty-fo:lrth
street NV; Mrs. Ethel H. Falken-
stein, 1910 Park road NV; Mrs
Rosa F. Harris, 5000 Just street
NE; Mrs. Lillian D. Doyle, 1643
Thirteenth street NV; Mrs. Eva
G. Ehrmantrout, 311 Gallatin
street NV; Miss Eleanor Mae
Hales, 300 Varnum street NV;
Harold T. Hambright, 6112 Sev.
enth place NV; Alphonzo Jack.
son, So, 1419 Girard street NV.
and Mrs. Ella M. Jettmar, 143e
Kennedy street NV.
Mrs. Sarah Anderson of Tx
Gresham street NV. and Arthur
j. Wicher, jr., of 1430 Belmont
street NV, were selected as al.
ternate jurors. who will serve Il
members of the regular panel be.
come i'll.
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