Evening star., 1953-11-19
Criminal Case History

1t is interesting, and it may be instructive,
to take look at the record of Wilbert Allen
Green, who shot Miss Elsie Lemke in the course
OF robbery last Saturday night.
Green was "a years old when he accoSted
Miss Lemke in front of her apartment house.
grabbed her pocketbook and shot her. But if
this man had received the punishment which
his record indicates that he should have
received, he would not have been roaming the
streets of Washington Saturday night He
would have been in Jail.
Green was nine years old when he had his
first brush with the police. He was arrested in
1888 for taking property without right and
released in the custody of his parents. The
record shows two charges against him in 1910,
when he was II years old. These were unlawful
entry and taking property without right In
194S, when he was IA, the record shows the fol-
lowing charges: Investigation, three charges of
houSebreaking, three charges of petit larceny,
and two more charges of housebreakng These
charges apparently grew out of single arrest.
Presumably Green was turned over on this occa-
sion to Juvenile Court, and the records of that
court, which would show what disposition was
made of the charges are secret
On November 28 1943, however-f1ve days
after the housebreaking arrest-Green was
picked up as fugitive from Blue Plains, where
Apparently the court had sent him there, or
was holding him there The record shows that
after being picked up, he was again turned over
to Blue Plains.
Three months later he was arrested on two
cases of housebreaking and one of assault. In
one of these houSebreakingS he stabbed an
elderly woman with butcher knife. Again the
record is secret, but apparently he was SEN
fenced in Juvenile Court to serve four years in
the National Training School, and was paroled
after serving one year. On February II, 1916
two years after the stabbing-he was arrested
for attempted housebreaking. Three days later
five housebreaking charges we're lodged against
him and he was turned over to the National
Training School for violation of parole.
That is the last notation in his juvenile
record, as The Star has been able to obtain it.
1t is record which may not be accurate in
every detail, but it is essentially correct.
Even after being returned as parole vio-
lator, Green did not serve his four-year term at
the training school. The record is blank on the
question of how he got out, but on May Is, 1947,
he was arrested on a charge of petit larceny.
BY this time Green was 18, and no longer within
the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court. The rec
ord does not indicate, however, that this con-
f1rmed criminal received much sterner treat
ment in the higher courts.
There were two more arrests IN 1947-One
for investigation and the other for housebreak-
ing. He was indicted and convicted on the
latter charge, and sentenced to serve from 9
to 81 months. Then, of all things, he was
paroled-perhaps because the Parole Board did
not know of his juvenile record. BY 1850, he
was back at it again, the record for that year
showing arrests for investigation, attempted
houSebreaking, aSSaulting an officer, and six
cases of housebreaking. On June 2, 1885, he
was convicted and sentenced to serve from
eight months to two years Perhaps he served
all of this light sentence, for he was not
arrested again until 1882 when the record
shows two charges but no convictions. The
next and last arrest came on November IS,
1953-for the robbery and shooting of Miss
Lemke.
Those who are impressed by the familiar
arguments for handling this type of criminal in
this way are welcome to make them. 1t seems
to The Star, however that there is something
very wrong with system of justice which
makes it possible for man like Green, with his
record and at his age, to run loose the streets
with gun in his hand. Certainly it is case
which suggests very little regard for the prn-
ciple that the public is entitled to protection
from career criminals like Wilbert Allen Green.