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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1955)
MSec 1 Statesman, Salem, Ore., Sunday, April 17, 1955 Movie Pictures Story of One of jo- - ' -m'T - m ar TST V Most notorious tonvicts9 Jo tin urea Omar Pinson Br CONRAD PRANGE Staff Writer, The SUtesmin "He was a brutal, vicious criminal and we are not trying to glamorize him in any way. He is no hero!" j ' Those are the words which open a movie due in Salem this week based on the life -and crimes of one John Omar Pinson. Pinson is an inmate serving a life term in the Oregon State Prison on the eastern edge of Salem. j The movie is "Gangbusters." It was made by the same people who produce the well-known ra dio show of the same name. j It tells the unpretty, if inter esting, story of a man who shot an Oregon state police officer, get fire to Oregon state prison, escaped from the same prison, was once rumored to have been buried in a lonely grave, and is nnw behind bars aeain. ! The movie hangs as close as possible to the known facts about Pinson's career in crime. How ever, in some parts of the film version some liberties have been taken, probably in the interests of interest and story. ! Name Familiar I To anyone who read the local newspapers in years from 1947 to 1951, the name of John Pin ion may have been a familiar one. He figured in all sorts of Tirison trouble, including at tempted escapes, riots and finally in a successful crash-out. j F.ven while hunted as an eseanee he was involved in one of the most bizarre episodes of Oregon's somewhat lengthy string rJ mid nenal hanDenines. He was born Omar August Pinson, March 31, 1918, at Jop lin, Mo. The only son, police records state, of respectable, middle-class Barents. An un eventful boyhood, spent near Pomerov. Iowa, ended the hard way in 1936, when he was sent to Iowa State Training School for house-breaking. I 1941 he was sentenced to a brief term in Iowa State Prison for auto tampering. He had mar ried and moved to Pasco. Wash., where he worked as a lineman and electrician. Paroled in 1945 But in 1944 he was sentenced f Washineton State Prison for burglary and paroled in 1945. - After a couple of more scrapes with the law Pinson, then 28, found himself in Hood River on the night of April 25, 1947. While trvins to break into a service station he engaged in a gun bat tle with state police officer Del- mond E. Rondeau, 32. A bullet in the chest killed Rondeau. Pinson fled and a day later was captured by a posse ol officers near Ordinance as he tried to slio out of the area aboard a freiffht train. Pinson was tried and convicted of first degree murder. A jury saved his life be recommending life imprisonment Pinson was quoted as saying he didn't mean to kill the policeman. Rondeau wasn't there to answer. j Tried to Crash Gate I Shortlyafter his arrival at the Oregon prison at Salem Pinson tried to crash through a -yard gate in a prison truck. In the fall of 1948 Pinson and seven other cons set fire to the prison flax plant in another unsuccess ful attempt to escape. ! Then shortly after midnight on Mav 30, 1949. Pinson and a pal, William P. Benson, 44, serving five years for armed robbery, climbed over the prison wall and escaped, as the papers said, "in a hail of bullets." Pinson had engineered the escape from the prison bullpen, which is sup posed to be a tough nut to crack. About three months ana sev eral thousand tips later Benson was found lying in a Columbus, Ohio, alley. At a hospital he said be had swallowed poison because be thought he was dying of can cer. John Omar Pinson, convicted mur derer bow at the Oregon state penitentiary, whose life story is pictured in the new movie "Gangbusters." 4 I v : ' - He said that shortly after the escape he had buried the fatally wounded Pinson in the woods near Kellog, Idaho. Or, rather, at first he said he buried Pinson near Salem, and later changed the site to Idaho. Officers were skeptical. A Spo kane, , Wash., detective was quoted as saying he had positive proof that Pinson was very much alive and up to his old tricks in that area. Led Police Astray Benson, however, in an effort to prove his story led police through woods and remote areas of - the Idaho panhandle and through parts of western Mon tana in search of the "grave." He finally told weary police he was "confused." When he was returned to the Oregon prison he led local of ficers on an unsuccessful hunt for a grave near Salem. About this time Pinson made the FBI's 10 most wanted list Several months later he shot his way out of a roadblock at Poison, Ann BlytKs f Poetic Sermon' Creates Hollywood Sensation By JAMES BACON I of the press. Whatever way we HOLLYWOOD m Ann Blvth say it, you lead the way. Don't probably has sung at more religi-1 burlesque man; lead him. You mis hnpfits than anv nther star in have the words all the words. Hollywood. Yet at her most recent You have the truth one she talked instead of singing. It created a sensation. In the audience at the time were many of the biggest names in Hol lywood, plus Los Angeles' Cardinal Mclntyre. When she finished most of the 1,500 people present asked for a copy of her talk And a little beauty and a lot of love of man. Lead him. Lead not the child of God into darkness." Joan Crawford is the mother of a young architect but she may find herself a bit crowded if she builds her new house according to Written. by Ann and her doctor the plans of her son Christopher husband, Jim McNulty, the talk This week, Joan showed Chris' was almost a poetic sermon. Her plans to co-workers at Columbia delivery of it tfas superb drama, where she is making "The Queen Let's look at some xcerpts: Bee: The teenager drew up the " 'In the beginning was the word, plans at boarding school. and the word was with God, and 'The plans are great," Joan the word was God.' And since then said. "Only, the quarters designed a billion, million words have been for me are minute and Chris' quar spoken. Soft words, hard words, Iters are tremendous because of cold words, warm words. the giant size soda fountain he "There are words that sing and counts on having. jump and skip and dance gay words: Little girl words. And words with fun in their eyes and things in their pockets and their hair mussed: Little boy words. Young Words There are young words. And wise old words with a glint in their eye. There are words wide- Mont, and became No. 4 on the FBI list His days of freedom were numbered. Following a tip-off from a girl friend Pinson was recognized in Webb City, Mo., in April, 1950. On Aug 28 the hounded fugitive was nailed by a alert special agent who spotted Pinson as the escapee was going to register a car at the state capitol at Pierre, S. D. "Can't Trust Anyone" "This living on the run is no good," Pinson was .quoted as telling officers after his capture. You never stay in one town more than one night you can t trust anyone you meet" Pinson was returned to Oregon State Prison.. On the night of Oct 31, 1951, a group of 20 cons overpowered seven prison guards in a lutile atempt to escape, fin- son was singled out by the then warden Virgil OTtfalley as the ringleader in the Halloween night caper. This was his third at tempt at freedom. ' "I guess I'm a failure at escaping," Pinson was quoted as saying at a prison discipline committee hearing the next day. A failure at 34. The word at the prison now is Publisher Loses Plea For Dismissal that Pinson is "doing good time." He's apparently settled down and is "cooperative.' As a lifer he is eligible to be considered for parole. His only other possi bilities for legal freedom are executive clemency (remote in this case) and death. Editor Critical Of Information Agency Tactics NEW YORK (UP)-The United States Information Agency is put ting America's "worst foot for ward by trying to duplicate the job being done infinitely better by the independent U. S. news agen cies," Roy W. Howard said Sat urday. , Howard, chairman of the exe cutive comittee of the Scripps Howard newspapers, has just re turned from an around-the-world tour that lasted six weeks. Accompanied by his wife and secretary, Howard arrived at noon by Pan American Airways from Paris. Howard told reporters the U. S. Point Four program is "one of the most effective good - will builders." By contrast however, he said the U. S. Information Serv ice program of the USIA is con tributing virtually nothing to U.S. prestige abroad. "I would be the last one to sug gest another congressional inves tigation," he said, "but it does seem to me this whole USIA pro gram could properly be the sub ject of investigation by Congress. As an example of what he had one country. LAS VEGAS, Nev., (UP) Federal Judge John R. Ross Sat urday denied a motion for a direc ted judgment of acquittal in the trial of Las, Vegas Sun publisher Herman M." (Hank) Greenspun. Greenspun is accused of having seen, Howard cited sent through the mails 874 copies, which I don't want to name, which of his newspaper containing a 1 has a claimed literacy of 12 per Hollywood may soon help, in a small way, to keep the price of wheat up. The town long has been responsible for the high price of corn Jack Carter, Columbia Pictures propmaster, is looking for all the wheat he can find in the filming eyed with wonder, soft as a baby's 0f the Biblical epic "Joseph And leet, strong as a naoys twining Brethren," Rita Hayworth's lingers, mere re warm, vuuuiy i comeback picture. baoy words. I Thousands of tons will be shown Ana steei woras; iron woras; n eauences demctin Ezvot's uirusung, sunguig, jam-ei wuius; i "seven fat years , - r l J . 1 cruel oiaues 01 wurus aim aweci words, booming unguent woras; rh n'wht hetnr th jadAmv father, mother words: Words that awards presentation. Bine Crosby press thetf cheek against yours 0ffered Marlon Brando 100 to one ana noid your nana: inai canaie- odds that Branda would win the t a i . . i nn a. J I iigni your aarxness: inai raise top acting Oscar. you nxe a cnua again ana noist The bet was not taken. you onto their snouiaers. -words are everything mat man xh- movi i . v; is; everything he can be-they are way starting a move for indus eveerything he should not be. They try sponsorship of the academy are ais wave; iney are ms master awards telecast in a world of the mercy ot the word of God man is. at the mercy of words. Infinite Wonder '"In the beginning was the word,' all the infinite wonder and beauty and truth and love and life that God is, uttered expressed in one divine word. This is the truth. And by its nature, every word should be a reflection of the divine truth. "... I plead with the press to remember powerful words. That words are written about men and read by men. "I plead that infidelity is not new; it isn't even news. It's scan dai That a decalogue broken on the front page helps no one and hurts many. . . That sensationalism is not brilliance. That sensational ism and emotionalism and carnal- ism are a direct appeal to man's baser part and the betrayal of a trust "You are the light bearers, men One important studio executive commented this week: If successful, youll hear the winners make speeches next year if they want to not just mumble column written by him which the government contends was of "indecent" character in that it "tended to incite murder or assin ation" of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Greenspun's attorneys, in seek ing the acquittal, argued that con viction of the publisher would violate his constitutional guarante of free speech and freedom of the press. On this point, Ross observed, with every privilege goes a re sponsibility." "Newspapers have a great many privileges, as well as they should," Ross observed. , "With these privileges, however, newspapers should exercise care and caution so that your privilege and my privilege are not threat ened by over-zealous exercise of their privilege." Ross added that the question of freedom of the press was in his opinion "a matter outside this case." He noted in addition that many of the arguments made by defense attorneys for acquuittal had been ruled upon by the court at two prior hearings at which motions for dismissal of the indictment against the publisher were denied. a quick thank you' and get off the stage in time for the commercial." cent of the population. We have 150 persons working for USIA there. About 17 of them I' am told. are Americans. The man who is running it is an intelligent news paperman who is trying to do the best job possible in the circum stances. Every day he is deluged with thousands of words from USIA most of it more than 36 hours old which has already been adequately and completely covered by the United States news agen cies. What he tries to do, con sequently, is concentrate mainly on pictures, newsreels and cartoons." Howard said "all three Amer ican news agencies are doing a magnificent job of telling Amer ica's story, but they are continual ly handicapped and bedevilled by this giveaway stuff from USIS which has the same value as any thing you get for nothing -and that's nothing." y MA 22 1152-54.59-68 rVL6-77-79-8a Jt TAUtut 1 MAY 21 I! A 1- 8-10-22 K23-55-87-89( MMN MAY 22 JUNE 22 h72-73-74 CANCH JUNE 23 JULY 23 VM2-15-17-32 uo JULY 24 AUG. 23 m 3- 4-24 Sy?6-28-34 VKGO AUG. 24 SEPT. 22 nlS.37O8-70i K75-7fr8a TAR GASES? or ujvx k. rotLAN your Daily AOhnty Guid JM According to fnt Sfon. To develop message for Sunday, read words corresponding to numbers of your Zodioc birth sign. SEPT 2J OCT 23 1 Your 2 Poor 3 Titn 4 To , 5 Mokt . 6 Engage 7 In ; 8 Mind 9 Today 10 is ; 31 Stont 32 And 33 Monty 34 Problem 35 Ambition 36 In 37 Takes 38 Second 39 Center 40 Of II Conferences 41 People 12 You i 13 Aimed 14 Your 15 Appear 16 Actions 17 Popular 18 Early 19 Hours 20 Today 21 Could 22 Intuitive 23 But 42 Picture 43 Improves 44 Too 45 May 46 Impulsive 47 Ar 48 Be 49 Ready 50 Newt Jl For 52 Necessity S3 May 24 Concentrate 54 Of 25 Be 26 On 27 A . 28 Personal 29 Stepping 30 Welcome 55 Harmony 56 At 57 Solving 53 Come 59 Dealing. 60 Concerned 61 Your . 62 Woy 63 Wim 64 Finances 65 To 66 Problems 67 Give 63 With 69 Mony . 70 Ploce 171 You 72 And 73 Necessary 74 Buying 75 To 76 Priority 77 People 73 Love 79 It 80 Your 81 Social 82 Activity 83 Apparent 84 Career 85 And 86 Sad 87 It 88 Friendship B9 Locking , VU Affairs SCOWtt OCT. 24 LZ NOV. 22 14-10-20-21 ri f254-46 VJJ SAOnTAMUl NOV. DEC 4- 711-1-t )Good Adrer (J)NtrIl CAracom JAN. 20 V-ft 18-19.45-48T 60-63-86-90 VJ AQUAMUS I FES. I i sl 41-47-49 167-71-76 FEB. 20 MAR. 21 5- 291 m-36C-84VJ Strong Sales Technique COLUMBIA, S. C. (fV-Gordon L J Chatterton who sells lumber for i couple of western firms unloaded 37.000 board feet from a freight car in a "single day. William L. Boozer said the job usually take three . days. The Boozer lumbei yard had been faced with heavy demurrage charges when Chatter' ton volunteered to do it in one. Local people watched bug-eyed as Chatterton worked and esti mated be handled 56 tons of lum ber between 8 a.m. . and 4 p.m. The salesman, a husky graduate of the University of Washington, worked his way through school as v a longshoreman. Although he still varies his sales routine by taking on unloading jobs, he says he had not unloaded a car of lumber for four. months before tackling Booz er's freight, m m x '?HKbh 4 Ml 4 -- HEART! 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