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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1955)
Convicted Slayer Dies Before Guns Of Firing Squad Point of the Mountain, Utah U.PJ Protesting his innocense to the last, Don Jesse Neal was shot to death here today for the 1951 murder of a Salt Lake City policeman. "I am innocent, the former housepainter told Sheriff -George Beckstead, who served as execu Ctioner. 'But I have no malice toward anyone," he added seconds be fore the four slugs from five 30-30 caliber rifles ripped through the black shaped heart which served as a target for the five marksman hidden behind a canvas drop only 20 feet from where he was strapped to a wooden chair. The signal for the execution was given at 5:02 a.m. (MST). He was pronounced dead a couple of minutes later. Witnesses to the execution were not admitted until 60 seconds before the rifles barked their death signal at sun rise. The peaked, black hood al ready had been placed over Neal's head and face. He was nervously clinching and un clinching his fists as he spoke his last words to Sheriff Beck stead and the prison chaplain, the Rev. Robert Pollock of the Salt Lake Catholic Church. Newsmen did not, see the sig nal which set the executioners rifles ablaze. The prison physician set the stethoscope to Neal's chest al most as soon as the five rifles loosed their slug. Warden Marcell Graham said Neal had been given a sedative before he began the walk from his death cell to the especially- constructed execution site at the south side of the prison. Neal, 35-year-old native of Nashville, Ten., who painted houses in San Francisco between terms in California's San Quen- tin prison, lost his last chances for life yesterday- The U.S. Su preme Court and two Salt Lake City judges turned down his pleas for a stay. "What can I do3 now?" he asked. "The courts are all closed." But somehow, lie said he felt something would save him from execution, as it had four times before. For that reason, he said, he made no last-minute requests. Neal chose to die by a firing squad. A condemned killer in Utah may take his choice of that or the noose. Neal was convicted for mur dering Police Sgt. Owen T. Far ley on a downtown Salt Lake City street in 1951. Farley had tried to take Neal into custody for investigation of car theft and robbery. Wilma Tully, Neal's girl friend, testified at his trial that he pulled a hidden gun from be tween the seat cushions- of the stolen car, and with his hands shackled behind him, twisted around and shot Farley to death. Neal claimed Mrs. Tully was the one who fired the shot, but nobody believed his story. Railroad Tunnel Fire Hear Eureka Disrupts Service Fort Seward, Calif. (U.R) A stubborn fire in a Northwest ern Pacific Railroad tunnel was expected today to disrupt rail roal service for 10 days. The fire was discovered early yesterday in the 452-foot tunnel about 75 miles south of Eureka Damage may run as high as SZ50.000. Barred by smoke and heat from entering the tunnel, rail road crews decided early today to attack the fire from above. They brought a dozen bull dozers, moved them on to a hill side 15 feet above the roof of the tunnel and prepared to dig a hole through the top. Water was poured into the tunnel from the west end and it was hoped that this would quench the flames sufficiently to enable fire fighters to spray liquid cement to shore up the damaged timbers. More than 70 men were fight ing the blaze. Northwestern Pacific was carrying passengers around the scene by bus. At least 250 carloads of red wood lumber were held up. They will be shipped to San Francisco by truck. BP A Gives Awards To 118 Employees Portland (U.R) - Bonneville Power Administration yesterday gave away $11,000 to 118 em ployees who had demonstrated superior or outstanding perform ance records and for suggestion box ideas. The presentation was one of the largest in the federal service isince the Eisenhower adminis tration instituted the bonus in centives program as a morale factor. Bonus payments ranging from $10 to $200 were presented by Administrator William A. .Pearl and Division Chiefs Eu gene Starr, N. H. Callard and Earl D. Ostrander. i APR 20 rWl-7'-75 STARGAZE MKS MAR. 22 TAUtUS APR 21 ( MAY 21 ,16-30-34-501 54-78-80-9Q A. CfMIM MAY 22 ffifS JUNE 22 illl AT MA 67-72-831 CANCER JUNE 23 JULY 23 5- 7-20-25 '28-41-45 no JULY 24 AUG. 23 i J. 10 trH e. i r v I ' 1 tf). vneo AUG. 24 SEPT 22 1- 8- 9-27 '46-51-62 -By CLAY R. POLLAN- JM Your Daily Activity Guide . JM According to fie Start. 'I To develop message for Saturday, read words corresponding to numbers of your Zodioc birth sign. SEPT 23 -' MM 48-56404371?! kS68-74 1 Affair 2 You 3 You 4 Toke 5 Keep 6 Can 7 YourttH 8 Of 9 Your 10 Be 11 A 12 Wary 13 May 14 Leuon 15 Of 16 Dont 17 From 18 Sens 19 Gain 20 Clear 21 Of 22 Aid 23 Freedom 24 If 25 Of 26 And 27 Mate 31 Pleasure 32 Today 33 Matlman 34 Sudden 35 Giving 36 The 37 Anything 38 Keeps 39 You -. 40 Give 41 Situations 42 Need 43 Other 44 Moy 45 Today 46 Require 47 Bring 43 The 49 Stick &) Decisions 51 Your 52 Clofe 53 To 54 Or 55 Your - 56 Day 57 To 28 Complicated 58 You 29 Needed 59 Somt 30 Moke 0 To ) Adverse fig) Good 61 Or 62 Attention 63 Make 64 Settle 65 Some 66 Offense 67 Receive 68 New 69 Through 70 Desired 71 Base 72 A 73 Of 74 Move 75 Operations 76 News 77 Should 78 Changes 79 You 80 In 81 Fellow. 82 Negative 83 Nice 84 Get 85 Relaxed 86 Action e7 Now 88 Gift 89 Attitudes 90 Arrongments scoeno OCT. 24 j NOV 22 4.11.14-17ri 136-13-81-87 SAGCTAMUS NOV. 23 DEC 22 10-12-15-35yJ- 66-69-82-89 CAPRICORN DEC 23 jan. 20 v-r fe7-39-42-57flH AOUAMUS JAN. 21 FEB.' 19 18-21-23-26ifl 31-38-79-85"CH PISCES FEB. 20"GS MAR. 21 "Z. 334-47-58Gl 59-70-76 V Around 'Hollywood By ALINE MOSBY United Press Correspondent Hollywood (U.R) Director Cecil B. DeMille is parting the water of the Red Sea for "the most spectacu lar scene in movie history" but the spec tacle turned out today to be mostly cam era magic. As film fans couldn't have escaped know ing by now, Aline Mosby the 73-year-old DeMille is making what is billed as his greatest epic, "The Ten Commandments." The grand old man of movie spectacles still can out-super-colossal any director in town. So in his $8,000,000 film he has included "the most powerful scene ever fijmed," according to his publicity office. This will show the Hebrews escaping through the Red Sea. According to the script taken from the Bible, God parts the waters and the Hebrews thou sands of extras in dark pancake makeup cross on dry land. Most of Studio ' The villians, . the Pharaoh's soldiers in horse-drawn chariots, gallop in hot pursuit. But the waters close and crash upon them. Nearly the entire Paramount studio is being used for the gi gantic film and I finally found the stage where the Red Sea scenes were being shot. But the only sight was a bearded Charle ton Heston who plays Moses and 150 extras standing on a plaster hill. They looked over the hill in terror while DeMille barked orders and played sound effects of thunder just to get them in a frightened mood. Most of the sequence, De Mille's assistants explained, will be made via trick photography and special effects that will take a year's work in the laboratory. DeMille calls the scene "as com plicated as making an atom bomb," and he's also trying to keep it as secretive. ' DeMille first photographed thousands of extras tramping over the sands of Egypt last Oc tober. : Walls Torn Down The swirling wall of water, the clouds and a pillar of fire will be photographed separately and su perimposed on the original film. The water scenes are so com plicated Paramount had to move next door to RKO for more room. The walls between the two were torn down so Paramount could build a tank holding 30,000 gal lons of water that will pour out in a fast two minutes. This staggering scene involves three years of work and prepara tion and a cost of a million dol lars. Yet it will only last 10 min utes on the screen. "When DeMille first made 'The Ten Commandments' in 1923, the water from -the Red Sea scenes flooded Sunset Boule vard and the police arrived," one of his assistants said. "This time we figured a way to divert the water back into the tank." DeMille spent only $100,000 to part the Red Sea 32 years ago, but in those days that was a super-colossal budget for one scene. ! Release of Three Turncoats Awaits Final Arguments Tokyo (U.R) Communist China today reported that three turncoat American soldiers mould be released as soon as the Indian Red -Cross completed its arrangements for their depar ture in "the near future." Peiping Radio said that Chi nese Red Cross official review ed the "situation" of the three Americans and two Belgians who deserted to the Commu nists and then changed their minds asking to be returned to the free world. Knocked Americans . In a badly garbled broadcast, a Chinese Red Cross official knocked the Americans who turned their back once on their homeland. He said that the former U.N. soldiers were brought to Peip ing June 7. "Some of them," he chided, "were found staying out into the night and indulging in drinking. Tor their security," he said, "the Red Cross Society of China had advised them to return to their lodgings before midnight." "They hatefully refused to ac cept this sincere advice." Won't Guarantee Safety The official said that because of the men's conduct "The Red Cross Society of China would be unable to continue beging re sponsible for their safety." He said that Otho G. Bell, "admitted that he pretended to be committing suicide by slash ing his skin with a small knife He took pictures of his cuts and said that after his departure from China, he would use them as evidence of maltreatment." Detroit The annual snow fall in some areas south of Lakes Ontario and Erie averages more than 150 inches a year, the weather report charts indicate. I Vi a nnraa win? id. leJ' '"H -1 14UMU ft! Wt chock hi Imafiae) ... a 2 bod room heme, constructed tftrooghmrt with Member 1 grade lumbar and cemelate with atom!), iaej, electric reeae ant! icfiiastatof. 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Duffy said Chessman "believes he should be alive at the time the court acts on his petition." Even as the appeal was being filed, federal judges of the Ninth Circuit went on record as favor ing a move to outlaw repeated federal court reviews of death sentences such as those filed by Chessman. The proposed legislation en dorced by the judges of seven Western states yesterday would forbid state felons from petition ing for writs of habeas corpus in lower federal courts except in special cases involving a substan tial federal question not pre viously raised. Chief Justice William Denman of the Ninth Circuit Court of Ap peals said the legislation, now before Congress, is designed to put an end to cases such as that of Chessman. He said that case was a "national scandal." Chessman was convicted in Los Angeles in 1948 on multiple counts of robbery, rape and kid naping. He has managed to avoid execution for seven years by filing a series of legal petitions, many in federal court. He is the author of "Cell 2455, Death Row," and "Trial by Ordeal." Justice Denman, who granted Chessman't most recent review, said the purpose of the bill "is to distinguish state felonies from federal felonies and to get away from the ridiculous situation we had in Chessman, who year after year kept himself in litigation to get himself out of the gas house." Meanwhile, prison authorities were busy comparing the ad vance copy of Chessman's new book, "Trial by Ordeal," with the manuscript they confiscated from him last March. Chessman said earlier this week that he managed to smug gle a carbon copy of the manus cript out of the prison and to have it mailed to his publishers, Prentice-Hall. , Prison officials still doubted this story. -Warden Harley O. Teets said he intends to compare the book "very carefully" with the manus cript. The manuscript was confis cated in accordance with a state regulation prohibiting condemn-: ed men from publishing their writings. .. Meanwhile, Chessman's liter ary agent, Joseph Longstreth, denied in New York that Chess man's book was "ghost written." "I certainly will welcome the opportunity to compare my man uscript word for word, line for line and error for error and in type style Hth the original copy Warden Teets holds," he said. Friday. July 1, 1955 MEDFORD' OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE SSVEX Man Imprisoned 23 Years Gets Chance To Prove Innocence Jackson, Mich. U.R) Frank Moriconi, 59, who has served 23 years in Southern Michigan Pris on for a murder he claims he did not commit, was called out of his cell for a lie detector test today. The test was arranged by Ste phen Schutt, lie detector expert for the Keeler Laboratory of Chicago. He said he would ad minister the test to Moriconi, who had professed his innocence during his long years behind bars. No Direect Evidence Paul Thurlock, Moriconi's at torney who accompanied Schutt here, said the state's case against Moriconi was "strictly circum stantial with no direct evi dence." . Moriconi was convicted in Detroit in 1922 for murdering Fred Viola, his 7-year-old common-law stepson. The state charged that Mori coni struck the boy and held his head over a gas stove to collect $2,000 insurance. The defense Portland Car Salesman Fined on Sunday Charge Portland (U.R) Jean C. Elie, a used car salesman for the Vest Motor Co., was fined $50 in Port land Municipal Court yesterday for selling cars on Sunday. Elie was one of a dozen or more auto dealers and salesmen who have invited arrest under the city's ordinance banning car sales on Sundays. They plan a court test seeking to repeal the ordinance. Elie was the fourth Sunday sale case to reach muni cipal court. contended the boy climbed onto the stove and accidentally turn ed on the gas when he fell and struck his head. Failed to Prove Pretence Thurlow said the state based its case on the fact Moriconi was on relief and needed the insur ance money. The lawyer, who also is a Presbyterian minister, said the state failed to prove Moriconi even was home when the death occurred. A coroner's report, according to Thurlow, also failed to estab lish whether the boy died of asphyxiation or blow on the head. He said Moriconi spoke little English at the time and perhaps was unable to cooperate with his attorney. , . In addition, Thurlow said, Moriconi may have been inade quately represented," which would involve a violation of con stitutional rights. ' Week End Special! 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