Camden Evening Courier, December 2, 1930View transcription
HOTEL HOLDUP DENIED BY 3 ON WITNESS STAND
Alleged Bandits Tell Jury They Were Gambling at Time of Robbery
WATERHOUSE IN CLASH WITH STATE'S ATTORNEY
Defendant Says Money Found in Taxi Had Been Won in Gloucester
Three Camden men on trial on charges of holding up the night clerk and elevator operator of the Hotel Camden November 21, and robbing them of $67.43, went on the stand in their own defense today and made a complete denial.
They are Rollie Waterhouse, 19, of 422 Mechanic street; Joseph McKenna, 29, of 550 Lansdowne avenue, and Ralph Endt, 23, of 1161 Van Hook street. Under direct examination by their counsel, Samuel P. Orlando, and in cross examination by Prosecutor Baldwin, they presented an alibi in which they said they had been gambling in Gloucester at or about the time of the holdup.
Waterhouse and the prosecutor clashed while the former took the stand as the first defense witness. It was after Waterhouse had retraced his movements of the morning of the holdup that Prosecutor Baldwin started to delve further into Waterhouse's affairs.
Under cross examination, Waterhouse admitted that he hasn't worked for a year. He stated he lived with a sister.
"Where do you get the money with which to gamble?" asked Baldwin.
"From my brother."
Then, after Waterhouse averred he had left Gloucester for Camden between 5 and 5.30 a.m., "just at dawn," Baldwin asked him if he knew that on that particular morning the sun rose at 6.51 a.m.
"I don't know anything about the sun rising," replied Waterhouse. "It was just beginning to become daylight."
Then Baldwin questioned him closely about a gambling den which Waterhouse said he had visited with McKenna and Endt early that morning. He averred he did not know the name of the proprietor nor its exact address, except that it was on Jersey avenue between Seventh and Eighth streets, Gloucester. He didn't know the names of any of the other men there, except there was an "Ed," "Quirt" and "John."
"Would you be willing to point out this house to the prosecutor if he went down there with you this afternoon?" asked Orlando.
"Yes."
Refuses to Make Complaint
"If you showed it to me, would you be willing to sign a complaint against the proprietor?" pressed Baldwin.
"No. Why should I?" asked Waterhouse.
Waterhouse, in direct examination, testified that he and his two companions had gone to the private house in Gloucester and played dice. He said he won some money, and the three walked to Broadway at about 5.30 a.m., where they got a "hop" to Camden with a motorist whom they did not
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know. They alighted at Broadway and Federal streets, and decided to go to a Turkish bathhouse at Twelfth and Federal streets in Philadelphia. They went to Broadway and Cooper street, where they called a cab.
In the cab, Waterhouse said, he took out his winnings and started to count them in order to split with his companions. He referred to his friends as "Mr. Endt" and "Mr. McKenna." He had the money in his hands when the cab was stopped by bridge police. He placed it on the seat. Under cross-examination, he said he did not know how the money came to be found under the seat. He said he might have had a P.R.T. token, as he sometimes used the tokens in Philadelphia. A token was in the loot stolen from the hotel.
He then told how the night clerk could not identify him or McKenna, and hesitated before identifying Endt, finally saying to the latter that "if it wasn't you, it was your twin brother." When questioned how he had happened to have a paper roll of five-cent pieces, Waterhouse said some of the money he had won was paid to him in that form. His winnings, he said, comprised one-dollar bills and change, and he had counted up to $50 when the bridge cops appeared.
Waterhouse was a state's witness at the trial of Albert Saunders, who was acquitted of the murder of Angelo Solury, U.S. sailor slain in the Little Club, a Mount Vernon street speakeasy, last June. At that time it was not the state but the defense which brought out that Waterhouse to all appearances was a "man about town," in that he did not work for a living.
At Saunders' trial, Saunders and two other defense witnesses flatly accused Waterhouse of the Solury murder. When the jury exonerated Waterhouse, Prosecutor Baldwin was asked if Waterhouse would be arrested. The prosecutor averred that the "case is closed." A short time later Waterhouse was arrested in the hotel holdup and was also identified as the "gunman" in a Paulsboro gas station holdup. McKenna and Endt had also been held as material witnesses in the Solury murder, but were not called upon to testify by the state.
Defense Motions Denied
The state rested at 10.37 a.m., and then Judge Shay denied two motions by Orlando for a directed verdict of acquittal. Orlando first moved for acquittal of McKenna and Waterhouse.
Orlando held that the state had failed to identify Waterhouse and McKenna with the holdup, and that the fact they were arrested less than an hour after the holdup with Endt in a taxicab in which $67.83 was found under the seat, was purely circumstantial evidence occurring after the holdup. Defense counsel also pointed out that while Harry A. Auman, the clerk, had identified Endt as one of three bandits, he failed to identify Waterhouse and McKenna, and had even refused to sign a complaint against them in police court.
Second Motion Denied
When Judge Shay dismissed the motion on the ground that there was enough evidence to permit the case to go to the jury, Orlando then moved for a verdict of acquittal for all three defendants. He said the joint indictment against them charges "robbery by force and putting in fear," and that the state had failed to prove the elements of robbery, that any violence was used or that Auman was put in fear.
Judge Shay denied the second motion, averring that the hotel lobby was dark, and one of the bandits placed something, a finger or a weapon, against Auman.
"If I were in his position, I would be frightened under those circumstances regardless of whether it was a gun or not, especially since it was too dark to determine this," stated Judge Shay.
The state today moved to spike what had appeared to be the foundation of a defense alibi. Yesterday, Edward Schreyer, 124 North Tenth street, driver of the taxicab in which the three were arrested, testified that at 5.25 p.m., he had picked up three fares at the Pennsauken police station and taken them to Camden. A short time later, he picked up Waterhouse, McKenna and Endt at Broadway and Cooper street.
This was brought out under cross-examination by Orlando, and it indicated the defense might contend that the money might have been placed under the seat by the previous fares.
Three Fares Called
Today the state called the three fares, James McGinnis, 1115 Federal street; Joseph Dent, 318 Taylor avenue, and his brother, Walter Dent. They averred they had been playing cards at a friend's house the preceding night and were speeding on Crescent boulevard when their car overturned near Central Airport. They were either at Cooper Hospital or at the Pennsauken police headquarters between 1.30 a.m. and 5.25 a.m. They said they had not been playing for money and had little cash.
Two Pennsauken policemen, Fred Weyman and James Hoff, corroborated their testimony insofar as their whereabouts at the time of the holdup. Sergeant Michael Bachmayer, of the Camden Bridge police, the last state's witness, described how two bridge cops chased Schreyer's cab on the bridge and overtook it to arrest the three suspects.
Alleged Bandits Tell Jury They Were Gambling at Time of Robbery
Waterhouse in Clash With State's Attorney
Defendant Says Money Found in Taxi Had Been Won in Gloucester
Three Camden men on trial on charges of holding up the night clerk and elevator operator of the Hotel Camden November 21, and robbing them of $67.43, went on the stand in their own defense today and made a complete denial.
Waterhouse and the prosecutor clashed while the former took the stand as the first defense witness. It was after Waterhouse had retraced his movements of the morning of the holdup that Prosecutor Baldwin started to delve further into Waterhouse's affairs.
Under cross examination, Waterhouse admitted that he hasn't worked for a year. He stated he lived with a sister.
"Where do you get the money with which to gamble?" asked Baldwin.
"From my brother."
Then, after Waterhouse averred he had left Gloucester for Camden between 5 and 5.30 a.m., "just at dawn," Baldwin asked him if he knew that on that particular morning the sun rose at 6.51 a.m.
"I don't know anything about the sun rising," replied Waterhouse. "It was just beginning to become daylight."
Then Baldwin questioned him closely about a gambling den which Waterhouse said he had visited with McKenna and Endt early that morning. He averred he did not know the name of the proprietor nor its exact address, except that it was on Jersey avenue between Seventh and Eighth streets, Gloucester. He didn't know the names of any of the other men there, except there was an "Ed," "Quirt" and "John."
"Would you be willing to point out this house to the prosecutor if he went down there with you this afternoon?" asked Orlando.
"Yes."
Refuses to Make Complaint
"If you showed it to me, would you be willing to sign a complaint against the proprietor?" pressed Baldwin.
"No. Why should I?" asked Waterhouse.
Waterhouse, in direct examination, testified that he and his two companions had gone to the private house in Gloucester and played dice. He said he won some money, and the three walked to Broadway at about 5.30 a.m., where they got a "hop" to Camden with a motorist whom they did not know. They alighted at Broadway and Federal streets, and decided to go to a Turkish bathhouse at Twelfth and Federal streets in Philadelphia. They went to Broadway and Cooper street, where they called a cab.
In the cab, Waterhouse said, he took out his winnings and started to count them in order to split with his companions. He referred to his friends as "Mr. Endt" and "Mr. McKenna." He had the money in his hands when the cab was stopped by bridge police. He placed it on the seat. Under cross-examination, he said he did not know how the money came to be found under the seat. He said he might have had a P.R.T. token, as he sometimes used the tokens in Philadelphia. A token was in the loot stolen from the hotel.
He then told how the night clerk could not identify him or McKenna, and hesitated before identifying Endt, finally saying to the latter that "if it wasn't you, it was your twin brother." When questioned how he had happened to have a paper roll of five-cent pieces, Waterhouse said some of the money he had won was paid to him in that form. His winnings, he said, comprised one-dollar bills and change, and he had counted up to $50 when the bridge cops appeared.
Waterhouse was a state's witness at the trial of Albert Saunders, who was acquitted of the murder of Angelo Solury, U.S. sailor slain in the Little Club, a Mount Vernon street speakeasy, last June. At that time it was not the state but the defense which brought out that Waterhouse to all appearances was a "man about town," in that he did not work for a living.
At Saunders' trial, Saunders and two other defense witnesses flatly accused Waterhouse of the Solury murder. When the jury exonerated Waterhouse, Prosecutor Baldwin was asked if Waterhouse would be arrested. The prosecutor averred that the "case is closed." A short time later Waterhouse was arrested in the hotel holdup and was also identified as the "gunman" in a Paulsboro gas station holdup. McKenna and Endt had also been held as material witnesses in the Solury murder, but were not called upon to testify by the state.
Defense Motions Denied
The state rested at 10.37 a.m., and then Judge Shay denied two motions by Orlando for a directed verdict of acquittal. Orlando first moved for acquittal of McKenna and Waterhouse.
Orlando held that the state had failed to identify Waterhouse and McKenna with the holdup, and that the fact they were arrested less than an hour after the holdup with Endt in a taxicab in which $67.83 was found under the seat, was purely circumstantial evidence occurring after the holdup. Defense counsel also pointed out that while Harry A. Auman, the clerk, had identified Endt as one of three bandits, he failed to identify Waterhouse and McKenna, and had even refused to sign a complaint against them in police court.
Second Motion Denied
When Judge Shay dismissed the motion on the ground that there was enough evidence to permit the case to go to the jury, Orlando then moved for a verdict of acquittal for all three defendants. He said the joint indictment against them charges "robbery by force and putting in fear," and that the state had failed to prove the elements of robbery, that any violence was used or that Auman was put in fear.
Judge Shay denied the second motion, averring that the hotel lobby was dark, and one of the bandits placed something, a finger or a weapon, against Auman.
"If I were in his position, I would be frightened under those circumstances regardless of whether it was a gun or not, especially since it was too dark to determine this," stated Judge Shay.
The state today moved to spike what had appeared to be the foundation of a defense alibi. Yesterday, Edward Schreyer, 124 North Tenth street, driver of the taxicab in which the three were arrested, testified that at 5.25 p.m., he had picked up three fares at the Pennsauken police station and taken them to Camden. A short time later, he picked up Waterhouse, McKenna and Endt at Broadway and Cooper street.
This was brought out under cross-examination by Orlando, and it indicated the defense might contend that the money might have been placed under the seat by the previous fares.
Three Fares Called
Today the state called the three fares, James McGinnis, 1115 Federal street; Joseph Dent, 318 Taylor avenue, and his brother, Walter Dent. They averred they had been playing cards at a friend's house the preceding night and were speeding on Crescent boulevard when their car overturned near Central Airport. They were either at Cooper Hospital or at the Pennsauken police headquarters between 1.30 a.m. and 5.25 a.m. They said they had not been playing for money and had little cash.
Two Pennsauken policemen, Fred Weyman and James Hoff, corroborated their testimony insofar as their whereabouts at the time of the holdup. Sergeant Michael Bachmayer, of the Camden Bridge police, the last state's witness, described how two bridge cops chased Schreyer's cab on the bridge and overtook it to arrest the three suspects.
