'Polack Joe' Enters Plea of Not Guilty
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Arraigned in Court as Echo of Fatal Shooting in G.O.P. Club
Joseph "Polack Joe" Devon, sometimes political worker, who shot and killed Joseph Cimini, of Philadelphia, in the Sixth Ward Republican Club three months ago, today entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of manslaughter in connection with the slaying.
Devon, who was arrested for the murder after the shooting, was indicted for manslaughter by the Camden county grand jury and released under $2,500 bail by Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Varbalow a week before the grand jury made its report.
The accused man entered his plea in person today before Judge Samuel M. Shay. He was represented by William King, an associate of Walter Keown in the latter's law office. Assistant Prosecutor C. Lawrence Gregorio appeared for the state and stated afterward that an early trial was expected.
Cimini was shot down on the night of January 21 after a quarrel which is supposed to have taken place during a crap game in the clubrooms at 908 Broadway. The shooting is declared to have occurred after Cimini had threatened to kill Charles "Chick" Hunt, a former pugilist.