USA > Illinois > Williamson County > Complete history of southern Illinois' gang war : the true story of southern Illinois gang warfare > Part 4
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At intervals of the trial Birger would smoke with his guard and go with him to get a drink and kept up quite a conversation on various topics. He would al- ways address his body guard when he wanted to go get something as "you and I." Harry Thomasson who was a star witness of the state, was anxious to go back to the penitentiary where he was serving a life term so he could study his music. He was playing the cor- net. He said Hyland drove the car he and his brother rode in to kill Joe Adams.
As time passed and the jury had not been selected and panel after panel exhausted, crowds jammed the court room and for the sake of giving the lawyers more room the relatives of the defendants were made
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move into the space behind the railing away from the defendants.
Selecting the jury was a most tedious job and day after day was consumed by it with one side dis- missing those selected by the other side. Birger and Newman kept up their verbal fire. Hyland who had served in the U. S. Navy, paid little attention to any- thing. His only relative that attended was a sister.
State's Attorney Arlie O. Boswell of Williamson county said that he was still trying hard to land the Lory Price and wife murder trial for Marion. Birger and a gang of his men had been indicted by both a Washington and Williamson county grand jury follow- ing the confession of Art Newman to a Post-Dispatch reporter from St. Louis clearing up the mysterious murders.
CHAPTER 11. Chapter 11 Deals with More of the Adams Murder Trial and Things Brought to Light by
Gangsters.
On July 12, 1927, as the trial of Birger, Newman and Hyland continued there was a rumor that Birger- ites featured in the Potter tragedy at Marion in the fall of 1926. W. O. Potter was a former U. S. district attorney for eastern Illinois. Potter's wife, two chil- dren and two grandchildren were found slain in the Potter home and Potter was found dead in the well outside the house. The heads of all were crushed. The coroner's jury said Potter killed his family and committed suicide. When the rumor started, State's Attorney Boswell started a new investigation to try to
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throw light on the tragedy which shocked even bloody Williamson county, when it was discovered.
Since Art Newman turned on his former chief- tain, he had been accusing him of the responsibility of one murder after another in addition to the one which he, Birger and "Izzy" Hyland were then standing trial for in Benton. In each instance evidence was uncover- ed which, at least, in part seemed to confirm his charges.
This latest and most startling development, con- necting members of the Birger gang with the death of Attorney Potter and family, could not be traced direct- ly to Newman, but information was sent to Williamson county's prosecutor that if he succesfully interrogated Rado Millich, a fellow conspirator, he might uncover the real reason for the Potter deaths.
Potter's fingerprints were identified on the stair- way leading to the second floor of the house where the crime was committed. It was also revealed that Potter had encountered financial difficulties and that he was responsible for the tragedies when he became temporarily insane.
State's Attorney Boswell with Sheriff Oren Cole- man and Coroner George Bell, questioned Rado Mil- lich in the Williamson county jail where he was await- ing execution. He had been sentenced to hang.
"Millich talked of Birger's activities in gang cir- cles but denied absolutely he had knowledge tending to indicate that Birger was connected with the death of Attorney Potter and members of his family," Bos- well declared.
"We also questioned members of the family, but learned nothing to change our belief that Potter alone
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caused the deaths of his family while temporarily in- sane."
All this time the selection of the jury in the Ad- ams murder case went on very slowly and exceptional- ly tedious. Absolutely, one who was not at the trial, cannot imagine the red tape which was unwound while selecting the jury. Everything that ever pertained to clauses of law was brought into question and motions were made and turned down and attorneys argued and Newman and Birger cursed each other and Izzy Hyland grinned until the whole thing became so dis- gusting it was sickening.
Attorneys for Hyland asked each prospective jur- or his opinion of secret orders, of Jews, and if he had ever read the Dearborn Independent, the paper pub- lished by Henry Ford opposing the Jews. The defense attorneys at first turned down every one who was ex- amined if he did not come up to their expectations as how he should determine secret orders, Jews, gang- sters and other things which no one thought of before they were mentioned in the trial.
The spectre of the Ku Klux Klan was brought into issue when defense attorneys for Hyland asked pros- pective jurors as to their affiliation with secret orders, religion, race and so on.
Defense attorneys for both Birger and Newman said that neither of their clients would be allowed on the stand as they were afraid that the defense of one would tear down the defense of the other. If Birger and Newman could have been given a separate trial they undoubtedly would have unloaded much on each other. However Birger said that he had no unloading to do and that he would tell nothing that Newman or any one else had done. He also maintained his inno-
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cence in the Adams murder and said he would prove it.
The state's attorney and assistants came out with the statement, while the selection of the jury was going on, that they were ready to combat any plea made by any of the defense. From the questions asked the pros- pective jurors, it seemed as if the defending attor- neys would come out with a plea of self defense, in- sanity or alibis for the defendants.
The possibility of an insanity plea being offered in Birger's defense made its first actual appearance officially late in the afternoon of July 11 when Attor- ney Robert E. Smith for Birger began questioning veniremen on their attitude toward insanity as a de- fense plea to a charge of murder. He was taken up almost instantly by State's Attorney Martin who point- ed out to the veniremen that before a prisoner at bar can offer a plea of insanity as defense, he must admit the act with which he is charged. Smith made no ref- erence to it as a possible defense after that during the remainder of the afternoon.
Smith also questioned veniremen upon their atti- tude toward self-defense should it be made an issue in the trial. Such a plea would likewise make it nec- essary for the defendant to admit the act charged, and a plea of self defense in this case would be regarded impossible since Birger was not charged with the actual killing.
Alibis, the third defense to be used, was possibly the strongest of the three and was used heavily. All three defendants were preparing to prove their absence from the scene of the killing at the time it occurred. For Birger this could be no difficult task. Birger could prove that he was on the Marion public square
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talking to Arlie Boswell when the shots were fired that killed Adams in West City.
Hyland said he would deny knowledge of the plot to kill Adams and that he drove the car which carried the Thomasson boys, Harry and Elmo, to the Adams home. Hyland said he would offer several witnesses in his behalf as would Newman to prove he was other than where Thomasson said he was.
The writer will take time here to tell the reader a few facts concerning the court room while the selec- tion of the jury was going on:
The crowd which occupied every seat in the little court room of the old Franklin county court house in Benton in early July began to lose a little of its tena- city in the swelter of the day as the trial wore on with the attorneys questioning veniremen. Rotating fans played a breeze of cool air occasionally upon the judge, attorneys and jurors, but for the spectators back of the bar railing, there was no relief from the heat. Hearing was difficult, also, and the spectators in the back of the room could do little more than watch the pantomime going on before them as defendants moved or lawyers made gestures of one sort or another, in talking to the prospective jurors sitting in cane bot- tom chairs upon a slightly raised platform in front of the counsel tables.
Occasionaly two, three or maybe a whole row of spectators would get up and walk down the broad center aisle to the steps that lead to the first floor of the court house. Their places, however, were soon filled as the deputy sheriffs at the front of the stairs let just as many people ascend as had descended be- fore them. No crowding was permitted, and no one was allowed to ascend the stairs until the officers were
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sure there was a vacant seat upstairs. At the head of the stairway a short, heavy set little man partly gray and partly bald, acted as usher, and he found the vacant seats for those who were permitted to enter. Motion- ing to the persons as they entered, he walked down the aisle in front of them to their seats. In his right pocket he carried a heavy revolver, the weight of which caus- ed his trousers sag several inches lower on the right than on the left. He was a busy man, this officer- usher, and his job of guiding his ever shifting audience did not stop until the court was over for the day.
Confusion was injected into that little court house while the selection of the jury was going on when one afternoon the newsboys with their papers were turned loose upon the court yard below. "All about Charlie Birger," was their loud cry and they cried it so loud that the noise penetrated the court room and gave com- petition to the voice of counsel. Attorney Robert Smith of Birger's counsel petitioned the court to stop the noise and Judge C. H. Miller dispatched Sheriff James Pritchard below stairs to quell the uproar. The sheriff evidently had his hands full as it was full thirty minutes before the babel in the court yard ceased.
During the first five days of the trial four jurors were tentatively selected by both sides. They were John Krugg, miner of Christopher; Marion Meeks, miner, West Frankfort; Dave Whitledge, miner, of West Frankfort and Dow Fisher, laborer, of Whitting- ton. Sixty veniremen had been dismissed when these four were chosen.
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CHAPTER 12.
Chapter 12 Deals with the Talking of Millich; Also
More of the Adams Murder Trial at Benton.
Mrs. Nellie Worsham, mother of Lyle Worsham, visited Rado Millich in jail at Marion, July 11, in hope of getting some information that would lead to the solution of her son's mysterious death.
Millich knew Lyle, better known as "Shag", and Mrs. Worsham was assured by Millich that he would give her the details of the slaying, who did it and for what purpose it was done.
"Me going to die, Mrs. Worsham, and we will tell you all," was the final promise offered to Mrs. Wor- sham by Millich at that time.
Mrs. Worsham carried a life insurance policy on her son Lyle, but was never able to collect it, owing to the demand of the insurance company for more positive proof of the death of her son that had not then been offered.
While Millich, in his numerous confessions gave out the information that he knew all about the slaying of Shag Worsham, his confession would not be accepted by the insurance company.
While the jury was still being sought to try Bir- ger, Newman and Hyland, rumors were afloat that gangsters would try to rescue Millich from the Marion jail where he was awaiting execution and that the gangsters on trial in Benton would be rescued by friends. As a result sharpshooters with highpowered rifles and machine guns were placed on guard. At Ben- ton seven extra sharpshooters with highpowered rifles were added to the guard force.
From the time that ended the trial of Rado Millich
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and Eural Gowan in connection with the murder of Ward Jones, to July 14, 1927 $5,000 had been raised to finance an appeal from the death sentence imposed by Williamson county circuit court on Rado Millich for the murder of Jones. A vigorous campaign was gone through with in raising the funds for the appeal to Judge Hartwell.
On July 14 a teriffic wind storm struck the court house and vicinity and passed on without doing any damage. Birger said, "If the old building had been wrecked, I'd be blamed for it. I've been blamed for al- most everything else. I'm glad the old shack is still standing."
On this same day an irate cow attempted to de- stroy the tireless efforts of state and defense in selecting a jury for the case. Mrs. Charles R. Francis, wife of one of the accepted jurors, hobbled into the court room and appealed to Judge Charles H. Miller to release her husband, as she had been disabled by a cow that trampled her under its hoof. There was no one to take care of the cow, she argued. The judge ex- plained the necessity of keeping her husband in the jury box.
"Your arguments are silly," she replied. "Let me see my husband". The husband was called into an ante-room and they embraced. He agreed with the judge. "All right," she replied in a tone of regret. "I expected that so I brought your clothes. Goodbye."
The decision kept the second panel of four intact.
Art Newman, willing confessor of the bad deeds of his former chieftain, Charlie Birger, on the 14th day of July charged his co-defendant in the Adams murder trial with another crime.
Newman said Birger furnished two pistols to a man hired to shoot Robert R. Ward, president of the
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Benton State Bank. The attempted assassination in December, 1926, was unsuccessful, although four shots were fired through the living room of Ward's home, where the bank president was standing. The attack- er escaped.
The man who hired the gunman to fire the shots, according to Newman, was angry with Ward because of a foreclosure deal.
Newman had excited newspapermen in the court room with promises of "another startling confession," but it proved to be milder than his previous confessions since the murder trial begun.
Birger, when told of the confession, merely sneered, declaring "the next thing he will charge me with having fired the shot that killed President McKin- ley."
Newman said, in baring his latest confession of Birger crimes, the gang chieftain loaned the guns to a man who gave them to a negro to kill Ward. The fel- low received one gun from Birger and one from Steve George at Shady Rest. The fellow was called "Doc". He wanted to let George do the killing but Birger didn't want George to leave Shady Rest. Steve George and wife were among those who were burned to death in the destruction of Shady Rest.
On the 15th of July, just after the selection of the jury had been completed, two of Chicago's most no- torious gunmen, in company with a leading criminal of southern Illinois of ten years' past, appeared at the Birger trial. Their pesence, coupled with extra pre- cautions taken by Sheriff Pritchard in stationing ex- pert marksmen about the court, caused considerable apprehension among some attending the trial, and all were on their guard.
A pitiful figure in the courtroom was the elderly
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mother of the slain man, who wept during the state- ment of State's Attorney Martin. The prosecution opened by asking death for all three of the defendants.
At this time, the 15th of July, Robert Torrese, Charles Duchowski and Walter Taleski were hanged from a triple gallows in the jail yard at Joliet, Ill., for the killing of Peter Klein, deputy warden of the peni- tentiary there. The men were hanged at dawn by the sheriff. Each of the murderers went to their death fearlessly. More than seven hundred persons wit- nessed the hangings. Blood lust of the Roman arena was pesent as the mob fought for vantage points to view the death spectacle.
CHAPTER 13.
Chapter 13 Deals with the Beginning of the Adams Murder Trail Just After the Selection of the Jury Had Been Completed.
The selection of the jury in the Adams murder case, in which Charlie Birger, Art Newman and Ray Hyland were on trial for the murder of Mayor Joe Adams of West City, was completed at 11:15 on the morning of July 14, 1927, at Benton, Illinois.
The jurors were: John Krug, Christopher, farmer- miner; Marion Meeks, West Frankfort, miner; Dave Whitledge, West Frankfort, miner; Dow Fisher, Whit- tington, laborer; Charles R. Francis, West Frankfort township, farmer-miner; L. A. Gunn, Cave township, farmer; Paul Knight, Thompsonville, merchant, the youngest man on the jury, being 26 years of age; F. C. Downen, Thomsponville, farmer ; F. Marion Warren, Eastern township, farmer; Wm. Hendricks, Christo-
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pher, miner ; Milo Hopper, West Frankfort, miner and Harry Simpson, West Frankfort auto salesman.
The last four'men were accepted by the defense after they had been tendered by the state following but a few moments of questioning on the part of defense counsel. Judge Charles H. Miller, before whom the case was being tried, at once ordered the jury sworn in.
With the selection of the jury completed after more than four days of interrogation by the state and defense counsel, the stage was cleared for the more dramatic scenes that the trial was to present: Specta- tors became much more interested. Newspapermen got busy with their cameras and then court was re- cessed until after the noon hour when State's Attorney Roy C. Martin made his opening plea. The defense said they would make no statements until they heard the prosecution give their complete outline so they would know the nature of their defense better.
The prosecution had carefully endeavored to select what is known as a "hanging jury." The de- fense had been equally deliberate in an effort to select a jury that would save the defendants from the gal- lows.
In thundering tones, the state's attorney recited the murder story, as he was to present it to the jury, going back to the day, when according to testimony that the state was to present, the murder of Adams was planned at Shady Rest. He went over the crime, step by step, from the time the murder car left Shady Rest accompanied by another car in which leaders of the Birger gang were alleged to have accompanied the killers as far as Marion.
The prosecuter spoke with grim resolution, as he pictured the cruel, heartless manner in which the mur-
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der of Joe Adams was planned and executed. He charged that Charlie Birger, Art Newman and Connie Ritter, the latter under indictment at that time and and also a fugitive from justice, planned the crime and paid Harry and Elmo Thomasson for firing the shots that killed Adams, known to have been the friend of the Sheltons, bitter enemies of Birger. The State's Attorney charged that Ray Hyland drove the car and shared equally with the Thomassons in the division of the blood money with which they were paid for the suc- cess of their murderous mission.
None of the Sheltons were at the trial or in Ben- ton as Sheriff Pritchard wrote them saying that he did not want them near Benton while the trial was going on. They promised him that they would stay away.
The prosecutor said that he would not introduce the confession of Harry Thomasson, who was serving a life sentence at the Chester penitentiary for his part in the crime. Thomasson was placed on the stand as a wit- ness, however, and through his testimony and that of more than a hundred other witnesses, Martin hoped to end the crime career of Birger and his gangsters by placing the noose around the necks of Birger, Newman and Hyland.
Martin first recited the indictment charging the trio on trial and Connie Ritter and Harry Thomasson with the murder of Adams.
It was Thomasson's confession that resulted in the indictment of the others.
"The evidence in this case will show that Joe Adams never was a member of a gang or had any connection with the gang," Martin said.
"The evidence will show that Newman and Hy- land were associated with Birger at Shady Rest at the time Joe Adams was killed."
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"It will show Charlie Birger became very angry at Joe Adams on or about Oct. 15, 1926 for some unknown reason. It will show that about this time Birger, Newman and Hyland rode up in two automobiles loaded with machine guns and told Adams 'You big doughbelly we are going to kill you.'"
Martin said Adams had appealed for protection but it was not furnished. Adams then had some men at his home for protection and Birger charged that he was harboring the Shelton gang.
"Birger often declared that Franklin county was not big enough to keep him from killing Adams," Mar- tin continued. "This was at a time when Franklin county had a special guard in West City to keep mem- bers of both the Birger and Shelton gangs out of this county."
Martin continued by telling the jury of the threats made to Gus Adams and Mrs. Joe Adams that Birger and his gang was coming over to kill Joe. He continued to shout at the jury that he would hang the defendants.
"We have picked you to kill Joe Adams," Birger told them, according to Martin. He then described how the boys told Newman they hadn't killed anyone before., He described the writing of the note which was used as a ruse to get Adams to this front door and the actions of Hyland as the driver of the death car. Birger, the state's attorney said, forced Elmo Thomas- son to stay at Shady Rest that night when the boys asked that they be allowed to go home. Birger threat- ened Harry, Martin charged, that if he didn't return the next day the gang would come and get him.
Martin then detailed how the boys and Hyland were furnished with guns and given whiskey the next day,-Dec. 1926-the day of the murder.
The courtroom was deathly silent. Not one of
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the four hundred spectators made a sound. The women, who comprised almost a third of the audience, waved palm leaf fans as they leaned forward to hear Martin.
Mrs. Birger tapped her fan nervously against the back of a chair in front of her as the state's attorney continued his outline of the case.
Martin went through the entire details and de- manded the death sentence. Birger looked more nerv- ous than he did at the beginning of the selection of the jury. This time Birger was facing the law of the state of Illinois-and without the use of machine guns and armored trucks. As time wore on the attention at- tracted throughout the country was unimaginable. A fight to the finish had been prepared by both sides. It
was rumored at the trial that an assistant of Clarence Darrow of Chicago, noted criminal lawyer, would assist in the appeal of Rado Millich at Marion who was con- victed of the murder of Ward Jones. Should Millich's appeal fail he would then be sentenced and hanged. Millich's appeal to the circuit court of Williamson county was turned down. He was sentenced to hang on Oct. 24, 1926.
CHAPTER 14.
Chapter 14 Deals with the Taking of Evidence in the Adams Murder Trial After the Opening State- ments to the Court and to the Jury.
On the morning of July 15, 1927, State's Attorney Roy C. Martin started weaving the net of evidence by which he expected to be able to send Charlie Birger, Newman and Hyland to the gallows for the murder of Joe Adams.
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The first witness introduced in the state's effort to establish the guilt of Birger, Newman and Hyland and his former aids was Sheriff James Pritchard. He was followed by Sheriff Oren Coleman of Williamson county.
Pinkney Thomasson, 17, brother of Harry and Elmo, supplied the first evidence for the state which made their case look strong. His replies were clear and strong and he was an ideal witness. Through his testimony the state brought out that Ray Hyland was with Elmo and Harry Thomasson on the day of the Adams murder.
Roy Adams and wife, distant relatives of the slain man, told the first direct story of the killing of Joe Adams. They were out walking on the afternoon of the murder and witnessed the shooting. They told of two youths passing them on the sidewalk. The first testimony given in the trial was more damaging to Hyland than to Newman and Birger.
Birgers attorneys at this time came out with the news that Birger would take the stand later in the trial in the defense of himself.
Aviator Admits Dropping Bomb on Shady Rest.
On July 16, it was asserted that Elmer Kane, 26- year-old aviator, had confessed that he was hired to bomb the road house of Charlie Birger, near Marion.
Police of Waterloo, Iowa, said they had a signed statement from Kane to the effect that he was induced by Mayor Joe Adams of West City and Carl and Bernie Shelton, to undertake to blow up the Birger fortress from the air ..
He said he was paid $1,000 and given an automo- bile for his work. The bombs were prepared at the home of Gus Adams in West City, according to the confession, and plans for the raid were made there.
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A member of the Shelton gang, unnamed in the confession, threw the bombs from the plane while Kane piloted it, it was said.
Shady Rest was bombed Nov. 12, 1926. Three bombs were dropped, two of them failing to explode and a third missing the target. None was injured.
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