The Key West Citizen Newspaper, December 18, 1954, Page 1

Warmest City In Nation Today Was KEY WEST For Quick Communication, Use CLASSIFIED Ads! You'll reach buyers and sellers— 74° VOL. LXXV No. 300 Sheppard Jury Continues Its Deliberation Anxious Hours Are Spent In Ohio Courtroom By RELMAN MORIN CLEVELAND, Dec. 18 (# — Dr. Samuel Sheppard waits through the most anxious hours of his life today. , The jurors im his murder trial resume their deliberations this morning after 12 hours of discus- sion yesterday. Not the slightest hint has come from behind the locked and guarded doors of the conference room as to whether they are mear a verdict—or how they are voting. Sheppard is accused of murder- fing his pregnant wife, Marilyn, If the jury finds him guilty of murder in the first degree, and does not recommend mercy, the Jaw requires that he must die in the electric chair. ‘As the long, slow hours passed, ‘courtroom observers began to spec- ulate about the possibility that the jurors are locked in disagreement. Mass Of Material ‘However, they have an enormous mass of material to consider, The written record of the nine-weeks trial amounts to more than a mil- lion words. And there are 214 “‘ex- hibits,” including photographs, let- ters, personal possessions of the accused man, the blood-splotched coverings of the bed where Mari- lyn Sheppard died. Lawyers said it might take many hours just to examine all this be- fore the discussions get started in earnest. ‘The seven men and five women jurors looked tired, and some of them seemed a little grim last night when Judge Edward Blythin excused them and sent them to a downtown Cleveland hotel for the night. No Time Limit ‘There is no time limit to the deliberations, the judge said . He declared: é don’t think there is any limit, and even Sunday is a fine day. As long as the defendant is in court, I don’t think there is any Jaw against deliberating or return- ing a verdict on Sunday.” Sheppard confronted them three times during recesses in the de- liberations, ie Each time they left the Criminal Courts Building, for luncheon, din- ner and retirement, they were brought back to the courtroom where the trial was held. Each time, Blythin cautioned them not to talk with anyone while they were outside the jury room. Sheppard Present Sheppard was in the room each time. He looked at them closely, but the faces of the jurors showed little or nothing. . One of the women gave him 3 quick glance, and then turned her head away. None of the men seemed to notice him at all. They all looked like 12 weary people who had been working very hard. Sheppard’s face was a_ blank, too, each time he was brought down from his cell. : As he entered the courtroom, his eyes searched through the rows of spectators and reporters until he spotted his two brothers, Stephen and Richard and their wives. He gave them a small smile. When he left the room, he looked at them again. He holds his head well back and keeps his chin up. False Alarm Shakes Newsmen CLEVELAND (#—There was a) brief flurry of excitement among newsmen awaiting the verdict in | the Sheppard murder trial at 10:11) a.m, today, just two minutes less | than 24 hours after the jury started | to consider the case. | ‘There was a signal from the jury | room. Bailiff Eddie Francis hur-| Tied to the door. | But it was a mistake. One of the jurors apparently bumped the buz- | ger accidentally. 6 THE SOUTHERNMOST BPW’S LEAVE FOR HAVANA—Five members of the local Business and Professional Women’s Club left yesterday afternoon for a “goodwill” isit to Havana, Cuba. While in the Cuban capital they will be feted by the Havana BPW Club. The group will return to Key West Sunday after- noon. Making the trip are (left to right) Kay Holland, Joan Mardis, president of the Key West Club; Irma Wagner, Rose Cohen and Mrs. Laurenza LaVesque.—Citizen Staff Photo, Don Pinder. Tourists Jam Ferry Office Here Today Everybody wants to go to Cu- ba. They'll stand around for hours waiting for a reservation on the “City of Key West. As a matter of fact, there were prospective passengers waiting for possible cancela- tions at the Duval St. office of Caribbean Ferry System as late as 4:30 is morning. Then, employees showed up for work at 6 o'clock today, the street in front of the office was filled with tourists wanting reserva- tions. When the ship left at 8:45, it ‘bore 117 passengers and 39 cars. Durden Guilty In Murder Plot BARTOW, Fla. (#—J. Willard Durden, 36-year-old Orlando con- tractor, was convicted last night of conspiring to kill a wealthy widow in a bizarre murder-for- money scheme. Criminal Court Judge Roy H. Amidon immediately sentenced him to a year in prison and a $500 fine, plus payment of trial costs— the maximum penalty under Florida law. A six-man jury found Durden guilty of conspiring with the late Emmett Donnelly, a Lake Wales lawyer, to kill Mrs. Byrd T. Roach of Lake Wales. Charges Brought The two men also were charged with conspiracy to kill two other persons—K. H. Gerlach of Lake Wales and Mrs. Louise Clark Haw- ley Sandberg of Orlando. Donnelly committed suicide shortly after he was charged in the cases in June. Durden still faces trial in the cases involving Gerlach and Mrs. Sandberg. Donnelly was executor for the $230,000 estate of Mrs. Roach’s husband. Mrs. Roach got one-third and the remainder went into a charity trust fund to be handled by Don- nelly. Prosecution witnesses said Donnelly had diverted these funds to his own use, W. Va. Banker Faces DWI Count A bank president has been charg- ed with driving while intoxicated, the sheriff's department said to- day. He is Walter T. Fredeking, 63, president of the First National Bank at Hinton, W. Va., who is free in $1,000 bond. Florida HighwayPatrolman Rob- ert. Young said Fredeking was driving a car Nov. 26 that crash- ed near the north end of Key Lar- go, killing Frank H. Cundiff, 49, | a passenger in the car and also of Hinton. Cundiff, who was thrown out of the car, died several hours later in Archer Smith Hospital at Home- stead. STORY SPREADS The Dr. Campbell incicent is still reaching national notoriety. A short resume of the controversy appears in the current edition of Newsweek, a weekly news magazine. The city commission gr ing for use as a city hall. ~ At a special meeting with mem- | bers of the TSO beard of directors, | the city acquiesced to the plea of Edwin Trevor, chairman of the board, and renewed the lease. the USO, however, had asked for a three year lease on the property, | which was bought in 1945 by the} city for use as a city hall and later | leased to the USO. H Carbonell Opposes Carbonell, pointing out that the city needs a satisfactory city hall, said that he would not vote for a two-year lease. He recommended that the city either negotiate a one- year lease or sell the property to the USO. “We ought to sell the building and forget about it,’ said Car- bonell. Trevor objected to a one year) lease, pointing out that the USO had spent $33,000 on the building dur- ing the past year. He added that they would be reluctant to spend any more money on needed re- pairs with only a one year pact. Trevor pointed out the need for servicemen’s facilities here when |he said that last year 31,000 ser- |vicemen made use of USO facili- ties. i Proposed Move Hit Trevor added that Navy men “won't go to the USO if it is lo- cated here or in Poinciana.” He was speaking of proposals that USO operations be _ transferred either to the old city hall or the city hall annex in Poinciana, He pointed out that the presence of the jail and police station in the old city hall would make it un- desirable for a USO. Mayor C. B. Harvey and com- missioner Paul R. Roberts voted in favor of the two year lease. Carbonell opposed it. Commissioa ers Delio Cobo and Jack Delaney were not present. Cable Recalled From Rescue Trip The“Cable” a sea - going sal-; vage vessel of Merritt Chapman Scott Co. returned to the Key West Naval Station yesterday afternoon after starting a voyage to Jamaica | to rescue a large tanker, “Tioga | Star.” that was floundering on a| reef. The Key West based salvage ves- sel left yesterday morning but was | recalled by radio when it was learned that the tanker had been refloated by the ship's crew. | Captain G. W. Barber, the ves- l’s skipper, reported that he was |fifty miles out to sea when he re- jceived orders to return to Key| West. YOUR DAIRY QUEEN Will Have Egg Nog | Until After New Year's, Corner of White and United Sts. TELEPHONE 2.7510 or 2-2743 City Gives USO Two-Year Lease On Its Whitehead St. Building anted the USO a two year lease on their Whitehead Street building yesterday over the heated objections of city commissioner Louis Car- bonell who had recommended the city take over the build- No Progress In Murder Probe LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (®—Officers investigating the murder of Mrs. Sue Fuller. went back today to the drudgery of checking and recheck- jing the few, slim clues they have in the slaying of the young mother. “We're trying to get our heads together and find out if there’s any- thing that we've overlooked,” Pros- ecutor J. B. Reed told reporters. “We still haven’t got a concrete lead to the killer; we’ve got a lot of theories, but they won’t stand up in court.” Reed and other law officers spent more than two hours talking with the dead woman’s husband yes- terday, but made no progress in the inquiry. Solution Remote “Were not a bit closer to a solu- tion now than we were when we started,’’ Reed said after question- ing 31-year-old Milton Fuller, lead- ing businessman of nearby Brink- ley. Reed said Fuller denied flatly that he wielded the five-pound stick of stovewood that crushed the skull of his attractive. 25-year-old wife. Mrs. Fuller was beaten fatally in a bedroom of her home early Sunday morning while Fuller and the couple’s two daughters, Mary Helen, five,-and Kathy, 18-months, were asleep. Fourteen Die In Train Wreck DORTMUND, Germany (®—Two trains, one a special carry 500 school children home for Christ- mas, collided in predawn darkness near Dortmund’s main railway sta- tion today killing 14 persons, and injuring 37. No children were killed. Three were slightly injured. Rescuers searched the wreckage of the regular train to recover bodies and lead survivors to safety. Cutting torches were used to free some victims from the tangled wreckace. Several hours after the crash the holiday special, which was not badly damaged, continued its trip to Dusseldorf. The children were en route to their homes from school on the North Sea Island of Sylt Rail officials said the other train, departing for Hamm when the ac cident occurred, was filled. The special rammed into it, ripping open one of the cars. The cause of the crash was not immediately determined. SLATS FOR CRAWFISH TRAPS at Strunk Lumber 120 SIMONTON near Ferry Dock NEWSPAPER» ‘ MILWAUKEE (®—A father-and- son holiday hunting trip to Canada yesterday turned into a flaming air crash death for four persons, including Frederick C. Miller, prominent Milwaukee brewer, civ- ie leader and sports figure. Miller’s son, Frederick Jr., 20, died in the furiously burning plane along with the pilots, Joseph Laird, 39, and his brother Paul, 34, both of Milwaukee. Miller, 48, a University of Notre Dame football star under the late Knute Rockne, died of injuries several hours after the crash. The trip, planned as a hunting jaunt into the Canadian woods, was only a few seconds old when the Miller-owned twin-engine plane sputtered and plunged to the ground at 5:08 p.m. near a resi- Chamber Group Protests Slow Retail Merchants Frown On City’s Lack Of Action The retail merchants di- ym@.on of the. Key» West Chamber of Commerce _ is burned up about the way the city commission is handling the downtown parking sit- uation. In a press release today they said that the city “has put the cart be- fore the horse” in their approach to the problem. The city commission voted Fri- day to offer $70,000 to the owners of a lot at Angela and Simonton Sts, for use as an off-street park- ing lot. Purchase Planned Purchase of the lot has been re- commended by the board of directors of the Chamber of Com- merce after local realtors had ap- praised the property at a value of $73,150. But the chamber. group today hit out at the action of the city in restricting parking on Caroline and | Eaton Sts. before the negotiations |for the Simonton - Angela St. pro- perty are completed. Since, there is some question that the $70,000 offer will be accepted, the chamber group feels that the negotiations have bogged dovn, at least temporarily. Dion Absent Dion, who represents Brown Es- tates, owners of the land, was not present at Friday’s commission meeting. Henry Lurie, chairman of the re- tail merchants group, said today \that the chamber submitted their recommendation to the city com- | mission several weeks ago that the |parking lot be purchased at the appraised value, but that the city ‘has failed to act on it. “Duval St. merchants believed that the lot would be purchased and that parking space would be made available before parking on the other streets would be restricted and parking meters added,” said Lurie. : | “As it stands,” Lurie added, “parking on at least two streets has already been restricted and the city at its special meeting last night failed to acquire title to the | property. Just how long it will be | before the lot is purchased is un- known.” “Meanwhile, traffic on Duval St. is bottle - necked at various hours of the day and Christmas shoppers are having considerable difficulty ‘in finding parking space,” he con- cluded 1 JUST IN! | Carload Shipment | Christmas Trees | Overseas Fruit Mkt. TRUMAN | 934 PH. 2-7742 Parking Action | Che Ken West Citisen tenants or workers . DIAL 2-5661 or 2.5662 Today . . Just PRICE FIVE CENTS Starts Tri-Cit Father-Son Holiday Ends In Tragedy As Plane Crashes dential area north of Gen. Mitchell Field. The four men had just taken off from the field, bound for Portage la Prairie, northwest of Winnipeg, where the Millers own a cabin. Father Thrown Clear The craft hit the ground about 125 feet from a home north of the field. The Senior Miller was thrown out. “My God, don’t bother about me,” Miller shouted to a resident who rushed to the wreckage. “There are three others in the plane.” But searing flames drove back rescuers. Police and firemen were helpless. Miller, burned over a large por- tion of his body, his right leg broken and suffering internal in- juries, was rushed to Johnston Emergency Hospital. Blood plasma was administered and part of the time he was conscious. He died five hours after the take-off crash. He was president of the Miller Brewing Co., founded by his grand- father, and of the Milwaukee Assn. of Commerce. Notre Dame Star Miller had been a star tackle at Notre Dame under the famed Rockne, who also died in a plane crash in 1931, Miller captained the Irish in 1928. He graduated a year later from the South Bend, Ind. school, where his son, Fred Jr., was a student. Miller was not related to two other famous Millers in Notre Dame football_— Don Miller of the Four Horsemen backfield in the early 20’s and Creighton Miller, halfback of the Associated Press All-America team in 1943. Miller probably was best known for his support of big league base- ball for Milwaukee. He sparked the drive to bring the Braves here from Boston and has since been a director of the baseball club and one of its most ardent backers. He was also a stockholder in the Green Bay Packers and a director of that National Football League club. Miller is survived by his widow, the former Adele Kanaley of Win- netka, Ill., six daughters and one son, his mother and four sisters. Equipment Used On Fatal Dive To Be Examined The equipment used by Paul M. Sweat, Navy diver, on his last dive is to be examined today by! the board probing Sweat’s death. Sweat, 28, died Tuesday in the recompression chamber aboard the submarine rescue vessel Penguin. He was raised to the deck of the Penguin after a routine dive and collapsed about a minute later. Cdr. James M. Hingson, who heads the board of investigation, also said the board will hear wit- nesses today. Other divers attached to the Pen- guin will be heard Monday and Tuesday, Cdr. Hingson said. Wednesday morning, the two Na- vy doctors who performed the au- topsy on Sweat will testify. Funeral services for Sweat were held in Fort Lauderdale yesterda ‘afternoon. He is survived by his widow, Betty Jean, and a daugh- ter. PAZO SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS Raymond Pazo, 32, charged with a crime against nature involving a 14-year-old boy, yesterday was sen-! tenced to five years in prison by Criminal Court Judge Thomas S. Caro. Pazo was found guilty Wednes- day by a six-man jury. Su Dairy Queen Tendra “Egg Nog” Hasta El Primero de Ano Esquina a White y United Telefono 2-7510 o 2-2743 { Will Operate tions here January 25. meeting of the city commis: eee County Made No Requests To SRD The county commissioners didn't request anything from anybody at the special meeting yesterday, “We made no requests to the State Road Department,” Com- missioner Clarence Higgs said today. “Specifically,” he added, “we did not request an accounting of the funds we have with the State Road Department. We will until the new admin- istration takes over before mak- ing any requests.” No Fatalities As Airliner Crashes, Burns BRAMPTON, Ont. ) — All. 23 Passengers and crewmen escaped from a Trans-Canada Super Con- stellation that crashed and burned on a farm near here last night. Two persons were severely burned and several others received less serious injuries. ~ The big airliner, bound from Tampa, Fla., to Toronto, snapped off two trees and rolled on its side as the pilot tried a belly landing in fog and rain. A wing of the four- engine aircraft was tossed 100 feet. The 16 passengers and 7 crew- men scrambled from the wreck- age moments before it burst into | flames. Tried To Land The accident occurred just north | of this town, about 14 miles north- west of Toronto and about seven miles west of Malton Airport. The pilot had circled the airport sev-| eral times trying to land. Twelve of the injured were taken to Brampton Hospital for treat- ment. Eleven others were treated | at Humber Memorial Hospital. One of the passengers, Len! Campbell, 17, of Burnt River, Ont., ! said the crash came without warn- ing. | “It felt like the plane hit a hump. | There was a terrific bang. The| next thing I knew people were roll- ing in the aisle. Everybody scram- bled for the door and ran in every | \direction as the plane started to burn. Nobody had any trouble get- ting out.” Fla. Students Aboard | Campbell, returning from school | at St.Petersburg, Fla., for the; Christmas holiday, was only shak- en up. Marlene Stewart, Canada’s 17- |year-old open golf champion, re-| |portedly suffered a slight hand in-| | jury. She also was returning home | from school at Rollins College, Vinter Park, Fla. | Trans-Canada Airlines listed {among the other passengers Miss Jean Shaver, 36, of Inverness, Fla. There was no report on her condi- | tion. | The airliner was to have stopped over briefly at Malton and then} headed for Montreal. There was | no immediate explanation of why jthe plane could not land at the airport. j Provincial police reported at \first that the big plane carried 50 persons, but the airline said it had only 16 passengers and its usual) 7-man crew aboard. PIER DEMOLISHED | Navy underwater swimmers | blew up the end of an old pier on | the Navy Station here about 5 p.in. ! yesterday. The blasts shook win- |dows over an area of several blocks. Service On January 2 From Gulf Docks On Key West Run The P and O Steamship Co. will not make use of the city-owned Clyde-Mallory dock when they begin opera- That information was released Friday at a special ion when City Manager Vic- tor Lang reported on a meeting with Robert Lord, an of- ficial of, the company. Lang said that P and O has completed negotiations with Gulf Oil Co. to use their dock at the foot of Duval Street. Lang said that they are getting use of the dock free of charge. The decision provided a solution te the knotty problem of who was going to repair the decrepit Clyde Mallory docks. The city was expected to ask that the shipping firm repair the dock because there were no funds for that project in city coffers. Costly Project The shipping company was re- portedly looking with disfavor on the city’s proposal since the project would cost upwards of $40,000. However, the P and O Co, was granted a lease on one third of city-owned buidling near the Gulf dock for use as a passenger tere minal and for a customs office. They will pay $33 per month for their share of the building. City’s Agreement The city also agreed to construct a concrete slab in the building at an estimaged cost of one thousand dollars and to wire the structure for electricity. Meanwhile, the company has ap- parently given up their proposed weekly Key West - Miami run. A schedule released yesterday shows that the ship will dock four times weekly in Key West, plying between Tampa and Havana, An earlier schedule had indicated that the ship would put into Miami once weekly, 4,600 - Ton Ship . The ship to be used in the opera- tion, the 4,600 ton Denali, is cur- rently in Vancouver, B. C., picking up a load of lumber consigned for Puerto Rico. It is scheduled to ar- rive in Port Tampa Jan. 5. The vessel can accommodate 200 Passengers in air conditioned state rooms and 174 deck passengers for daylight runs to Havana. The schedule: oe Tampa Monday, 4:00 P.M, tr. Key We: a Ae y st Tuesday, 8:00 Lv. A.M. Arr. Key West Tuesday, 11:30 Havana Tuesday, 6:30 | P.M. Li M. See Key West Wednesday, 6:00 raha Key West Wednesday, 7:00 nae Tampa Thursday, 10:00 , Havana Wednesday, 11:00 Lv. Tampa Thursday, 4:00 P.M. 2 be cat 8:00 A.M. ey West Friday, 11: pers y, 11:30 Arr. Hava: Friday, 6:30 P.M. Iw. Havana Sunday, 11:00 A.M. Arr. Key West Sunday, 6:00 P.M. 7:00 | Lv. P.M. Arr. Tampa Monday, 10:00 A.M, Key West Sunday, Notice To Late Shoppers Christmas cards, stationery, and gifts purchased at CORAL KEYS OFFICE SUPPLIES be- fore we close at 9 o'clock to- night, can be IMPRINTED and delivered to you on Monday! Coral Keys Office Supplies Incorporated 126 DUVAL STREET