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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1916)
3 TttlBO DEGREE fTHE THIRr egreex must go." I said Deputy Warden Miller, of Sine Sing Prison recently, and ho cited the cases of three men who Jiad made "confessions" under what Mr. Miller declared was a third degree sys tem of questioning and who later re pudiated their statements. These men were Onnl Tallas, Charles F. Stlelow and Thomas Bambrick, who were sen tenced to death and reprieved because of doubt cast upon their "confessions." "With the third degree the public is well acquainted through short stories, novels and the drama, but there has developed of,recent years a test mora grimly nerve racking, more crushing and relentless the "silent third de gree" to the study of which penolo gists and psychologists are giving much time and thought. In the opinion of some it Is more unjust than the older form of bullying questioning. Others declare that it is a true test one which wrings the truth from the subject more certainly than all the questioning In the world. One of the most notable cases of the practice of the silent third degree was In the Los Angeles dynamiting case. James B. McNamara was on trial. The prosecution had developed a strong case against him, but the man's nerve was wonderful. He steadfastly declared his innocence and resieted every ef fort to force a confession from him. This was desirable not only to fasten the guilt upon him, but to get evi dence against other conspirators. It was Samuel L. Browne, chief of the Los Angeles Secret Service Bu reau, who directed the gruelling dally presentation of witnesses who spoke not, nor were spoken to, but who mere ly filed into the courtroom, caught the eye of J. B. McNamara, shot him a a glance of recognition and then, un questioned by counsel for either side, left the room. "Women with whom McNamara had associated, hotel clerks who had seen him register under false names, cab men who had driven him to places where detectives contended he had me't fellow conspirators In the dynamite plot all these were marshaled by the secret service men and paraded before the prisoner. Vividly, realistically, almost as If with a moving picture film, each step in the accused dynamiter's Journey from Indianapolis to Los Angeles, each stage of development of the plot was called to his 'mind, and, what was worse, there was the suggestion that the prosecution knew all. Every time three or four witnesses who J. B. Mc Namara knew could testify damagingly against him entered the courtroom and bowed to him In recognition the thought was crushingly impressed upon his mind that another step In his career was known. Forging; the Chain. One of these silent witnesses was the mail clerk who had time and again handed mail to McNamara at the general delivery window and" had known him as J. B. Bryce. Imag ine the effect on the guilty man when he saw that the mail clerk recognized him. There were cabmen who had driven McNamara about, and one of them had quarreled with him. Those who knew him by name knew him as Bryce and Bryson. "When the man with whom he had quarreled confronted him Mc ' McNamara knew that he need expect no mercy from lilm. One man who by his silent presence recalled a step In the progress of the scheme was he who stood in the street In front of Mr. Lavin's house in San Francisco and had seen the man he knew as Bryce drive up in a taxlcab with a man named Schmidt. After Schmidt got out of the taxicab this man leaned in and spoke to McNamara. iffllf i Ml) h u 1 , I --rrw w OffA rr-k JUifnT?M s All Mothers kjjwwwmj.jiujjjijjjm..-i jinmiuii iijjijii.nijii I I 11 I J ill n I iiiiiii II III ' llll II III I II I I a ij.Lin NimWIimi" "JUt C" I I iWtl, r , . Ahr a&? ; a -As - rM a ten nr in-- in iswiJ.jawiyTrere!8a9a8 The accused man knew this witness could Identify him with certainty. All these were little things, brought up only to crush the Iron-nerved man with the knowledge that his every movement, however, trivial or Impor tant, was known. Finally a woman, plain and rather shabbily dressed, white and timid, was ushered into the courtroom. She sat In one of the front seats and gazed at J. B. McNamara. It seemed as If he was conscious of a force dragging his eyes toward her and was struggling against it. for several times he swung around almost until he faced her, but with the expectant catching of the breath by those who knew what await ed him McNamara would glance quick ly away again. At last he met her gaze fully. There was a little Jerking back of the wom an's head, a slight Intake of the breath that was all.. But J. B. Mc Namara stared and stared, and It seemed that his eyes would bulge from their sockets; then is face resumed its habitual half grin, half sneer, but his fingers twitched In agitation. That woman had sold him wrapping paper in her store, and in her presence he had wrapped sticks of dynamite in it. The Last Blow. As the supreme test, the crushing de nouement, McNamara was confronted by the last living person who had seen him before the dynamite explosion. He was a rather short, pudgy man, with little character In his face, a brisk, business-like air and dressed in a black derby hat and a black suit. Those who watched closely to see the effect on the prisoner said he was almost stunned when this man caught his eye and smiled a greeting. It was the bar tender who had sold McNamara a drink Just before he slipped through the swinging door of the saloon back Into Ink Alley and placed the dynamite which destroyed 21 lives. "I don't know that the 'silent third physical fear he soon feels the pangs degree' is a good name for this sys- of. moral or religious fear. He weak tem," said William J. Burns, who was ens, his mind Is preyed upon, and fin in charge of the McNamara case, "but ally, to relieve the uncertainty and the it certainly has a very strong effect strain, he confesses." on the criminal's mind. It Is a very "I'll tell you what this 'silent third simple matter nothing mysterious, degree' does. It wakens a man's con When a man who knows he Is guilty science. That's the underlying prin sees that you have turned up every ciple that makes it effective," said possible witness who could testify George S. Dougherty, formerly In against him and that they all recognize Hand" In the Game' S li 1H1' I i-lM V-i' 7A K:-lA rv T I i .-A - -; Jr'- "1 - , - .'.r v " t C X r - v " " - ; " "TIIKY FILED fTO THE COX'RTROO"!, CAUGHT THE EYE OF M'NAMARA, SHOT HIM A GJLAXCE OF RECOGNITION A -NO TUE.V LEFT THE ROOM." him fear begins to tug at his heart. Fear Is a great stimulant to the con science, for when a man falls prey to charge of the New York police detec tive bureau. "Look here, I'll tell you how It works. How the Silent Third Degree Works. "A man is arrested for a grave crime murder perhaps. He sees no witnesses "when he is arrested. He Is at bay, desperate, fighting for his lib erty and maybe for his life. He steels himself and throws about him an ar mor of bravado or unconcern or taci turnity. His nerves are like steel fib ers, and you can't shake them. If you should bully him he would become sul len and resistive. If you should Syphonated Gas i - ! S' " 4 'v L '."'f0' :' - threaten he would become defiant. He might be open to reason, but suppose he were not. "When he Is arrainged before a mag- Istrate there may be several witnesses whom he recognizes and who he knows will recognize him. vhen he had been first arrested he has told his mother and his wife and his friends that he Is Innocent. The lie means nothing to him then, but when he sees all these witnesses who are connected with his crime In different ways he begins to realize tlfat he may be forced to ad mit his guilt and that these persons are going to make him out a liar be fore the friends and relatives who have stuck by him. That is the beginning of the break, and it reaches a type of man you can't bully or hoodwink Into a confession." On July 27. 1911, William H. Jack son, a broker of New York, was found murdered in his room at the Iroquois Hotel, in the heart of the club dis trict of New York City. He had been beaten and strangled, and a bottle which had contained chloroform was found on the premises. About the only information the police were at first able to develop was the fact that the murderer must have en tered the room from the fire escape. There did not seem to be the slightest evidence as to the Identity of the in truder. The bottle which contained the traces of chloroform bore a label, how ever, and detectives working on the case traced it to a druggist In Newark. This man stated that he had sold the drug to a Mrs. Kane, and gave her address In New York City to them. Meanwhile police workine In the city tures. making them the most distinct had become suspicious of Paul Geldel. lve things In the room, and Geidel a belboy. who had been discharged from seemed unable to take his eyes from her the Iroquois a few days previously, face. He smiled with a certain amount When they learned that he was living 0f bravado as the questioning continued. In a room which he rented in Mrs. "Did Paul ever say anything about Kane's apartment their suspicions were the drug? What were his words?" strengthened, but -there was as yet nothing on which to hold the boy. He had not been seen by anyone on the premises where the crime was com mitted since his discharge; still, cer tain Information which came to the hand of George S. Dougherty, at that time Deputy Police Commisisoner in charge of the detective bureau, led him strongly to believe that Geldel was the murderer. The DepuTy Commissioner himself, together with Detectives Thomas Van Twister and Domlnick Reilly. went to the apartments of Mrs. Kane, a pretty woman, who earned a living as hairdresser. As they entered Mrs. Kane's sitting-room, Geldel and Pat rick McGrane, another bellboy, were sitting with her. Dougherty told Mrs. Kane that he wished to speak to her alone on an im portant matter. The other men said nothing, but two of them went into adjoining rooms, each with one of the boys. Kach attempted to question his custodian, but he would not speak, not even admitting that he was a detec tive, although the youths must have known it. and this silence multiplied their fears. Mrs. Kane In a very frank manner admitted that she had bought the chloroform and peld that she used it la. the treatment of hair. "Have you still got that bottle of chloroform in the houje," asked Douc-herty. "No," she said, "it has rosw." "Where?" asked Dougherty. Mrs. Kane at first hesitated, but by adroit que.tioning the Commissioner learned from her that it had disappeared from the shelf in the bathroom. After learning all that he cared to Dough- erty rroduced the bottle. "Was that yours?" he asked. Mrs. Kane said that it was. and be- came very much alarmed. The detec- tive reassured her. "All I want you to do," said Dougherty, "is to answer my questions again, Just the way you have this time." Then he sent for McGrane, who was In the next room with Geidel. After a few unimportant questions, he said to McGrane: "Now. all I want you to do is to sit here quietly. Don't say a word, and if Geidel looks at you make . . . . no sign or sound unless you want to get into trouble yourself." McGrane. thoroughly frightened, took his place on achair the detective of fered to him. Stepping to the table. Dougherty turned down the oil lamp, which had a red shade. Then he drew the cur tains, shutting out the twilight, which heightened the effect of the red shaded lamp. Every bit of furniture was placed by the detective so that the effect he was striving for would enhanced. No stage director could have exercised greater care in the ar rangement of details. He sent for Geidel. Reilly came In with him. The bellboy was seated in a chair which directly faced the door to the bathroom, where Dougherty had On His Master's already replaced the empty bottle of chloroform. "Mrs. Kane." said Dougherty, "did you purchase a bottle of chloroform from a druggist In Newark about ten days ago?" "Yes." said the woman. "Why did you get It?" "I use It In dressing hair," Mrs. Kan replied. "Did Paul know that yon had this drug?" "Yes. be did," admitted Mrs. Kane, who was so seated that the light from the lamp shone on her head and fea- Mrs. Kane looked Imploringly at Geldel, but either she did not dare to answer or her wish to tell the truth was stronger than her sympathy for the boy. "He asked me If there was enough chloroform in the bottle to kill a man." she said. "I told him there was. and asked him why he wanted to know. 'Oh, I might want to take some if things don't go right with me.' he re plied, laughing, and I thought that he was merely Joking in a grim way." "Is that bottle still in your posses sion?" asked the detective. "It is." said Mrs. Kane. "At least I have not used the drug, and it must be there." "Where?" "On the shelf In the bathroom." Turning to Dominick Reilly, the de tective asked him to look for the bottle. Geidel's face showed the first signs of alarm. "Here's the bottle," said Reilly, "but it's empty!" "I thought you said you hadn't used it," said Dougherty to Mrs. Kane. sharply. -- The bellboy's eyes started from their sockets. He had believed the bottle destroyed or lost. He sank in hia chair. McGrane did not return the glance of inquiry his friend shot to- ward him. How much did the-detectives know? Geldel looked first at one face. then another. The reddish glow on Mrs. Kane's features showed the anguish she was in. Paul knew she was fond of him. She must be suffering so be- cause she had been obliged to tell all she knew, about the chloroform. Mc- Grant's features were stolid. Geldel knew what he had told his friend, and to him this meant that the friend had betrayed him. Reilly handed the bottle, not to Mrs. Kane but to Paul Geidel. His tongue ciova to the roof of his mouth he trie to SPeak but could not. "So that's where you got the drug to kill' Jackson with, is It?" queried Dought-rty. "You are under arrest." Every glance, every move ent of the prisoner told of his guilt, yet he did not speak. The detective did not press him, With Oliestlrtns rinn .ortv wis .a.- .. , , , . . . . tent to let the settling he had arranged the silent third degree work on his mind. Reilly took back the bottle which. Geldel had -been examining with the horror he would have shown had a deadly adder been placed, wriggling, in his hands. They took him to Police Headquar ters. All the way downtown Geidel was living again the scene In the little room, lit by the reddish gleam from the lamp. A score of times he lived again that moment when the detective, with horrible dramatic force, had stepped out of the bathroom, in his hand that bottle which th youth had forgotten to der'.. -y. Before he was sent to hicell Geldel Concluded on Page Trail v
