Evening star., 1953-09-16
Kensinger, Admitted
Slayer, Was Model
As Boy, Court Told
By w. H. Shippen

"A mOCQer OOy LuFueQ IODOeI
and murderer related his life'S
story in Arlington Circuit Court
today in an effort to escape the
electric chair.
John Clay Kensinger, 20, took
the stand in his own behalf
while his widowed, gray-haired
mother. Mrs. Emma Kensinger,
SO, sobbed quietly in a front
seat.
Kensinger pleaded guilty at
the outset of his trial for shoot
ing taxicab driver through the
back of the head during a
holdup in the 4500 block of
Glebe road on June "a. The
court is hearing evidence to
determine whether the case is
first or second degree murder
Victim of the brutal Staying
was Leroy E. Applegate, 46, of
Takoma Park, Md, who had
driven Kensinger and COM
panion. Richard Lee McCoughey,
20. to Virginia from downtown
Washington.
Testimony COntradicted.
Kensinger today contradicted
McCoughey's testimony that he
knew nothing of the holdup until
he heard Kensinger click his
automatic near the scene of the
shooting.
The accused man, who elected
to waive his right to a jury trial,
said that McCoughey helped to
plan the robbery and even sug-
gested that they pick a taxicab
driver because that would be
LESS risky" than robbing a small
Washington hotel.
Kensinger's mother and half
sister, Mrs. Agnes johnson of
Pittsburgh, described him as a
model youth who never gave his
family a moments anxiety.
Until he went into the Navy"
Mrs. johnson said, "he was more
or less mothers boy"
Tells of Scholarship.
The gray-haired mother of six
children told Trial Judge William
D. Medley that her son was
"obedient. normal, happy and
we'll adjusted as a boy" The
mother said Kensinger led his
classes in school and at the age of
IA won a scholarship to study for
the priesthood in a seminary
near Pittsburgh.
The youth studied to be a
priest for more than a year but
was sent back to high school to
improve his Latin and Greek be-
fore returning to the seminary,
his mother said. Meanwhile his
father died and Kensinger de-
cided to enlist in the Navy at the
age of II.
Mrs. Kensinger said her son
sent $4,000 to her as down pay
ment on a home while serving
in the Navy during the war. The
mother said she realized too late
that her son was bitterly dis
appointed when she sold their
home after the war and moved
to Los Angeles to live with her
daughters.
DiShOnOrable Discharge.
Kensinger then re-enliSted in
the Navy and received a dishon-
orable discharge, he testified, for
the theft of stationary equip
ment while serving on a trans
port in the Pacific. =
Speaking in an almost inau-
dible voice, Kensinger told the
judge that his criminal record
followed him wherever he went
and left him little opportunity
to earn a living. He said he
worked as a dishWasher, got into
trouble in Arizona for breaking
window in a pawnshop, and
then drifted East. He became a
counselor in a Philadelphia or
phanage, helper in a New York
mental hospital, and finally
wound up in Chicago, where he
took a job selling magazines
from house to house.
KenSinger said he and Nc
Coughey roomed together in
Washington hotel and that they
plotted the robbery after young
McCoughey quit his job and
Kensinger got fired.
KenSinger said he was dis
charged because his conscience
would not permit him to repre-
sent himself as veteran doing
rehabilitation work by selling
magazines in contest sponsored
by the Veterans Administration.
He declared he could not bring
himself to make these false
statements.
McCoughey also is under in
dictment, but his case is yet to
be set for trial.