The Fighting Priest

Two career criminals were counting on the generosity of St. Catherine's parishioners that Easter Sunday in 1961 and they were right; folks had filled the church's collection baskets with their hard-earned money. However, not content with the supposedly thousands of dollars sitting in the rectory that evening, the crooks decided to steal the silverware as well.

 

Denver, Colorado's Right Reverend Monsignor Delisle A. Lemieux, aged 58, heard the racket coming from the dining room and ran in there to investigate. Leaving nothing to chance, this was a tough neighborhood and burglaries were commonplace, Lemieux grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun and a .32 caliber handgun. He told the burglars to stand fast and "don't move or I'll shoot" but when they lunged at him, Lemieux pulled the trigger of the shotgun and down went Richard Eugene Sanders, aged 27.

Sander's accomplice and Lemieux wrestled for ownership of the shotgun before the intruder made a break for it. Lemieux threw the shotgun to the ground and fired three rounds from his revolver at the fleeing man. He was pretty sure the third shot hit it's target but the man made it out of the rectory and had sped away in a waiting vehicle.



Richard Eugene Sanders

Monsigner Lemieux, I suppose preparing to offer last rites to Sanders, asked the dying man if he was a Catholic. Sanders shook his head "No" and then passed out. He would die on the operating table from the wound to his abdomen.
Lemieux was quoted as saying, "I never meant to kill him. I aimed low and he walked right into it. It's been a nightmare."

Ten days later, on April 13, the FBI arrested, without incident, John Joseph Thornbrugh, aged 29, at a bar in Fresno, California. He had a bullet wound to his left leg, as Lemieux suspected.

On April 18, 1961, as a mere formality, Monsignor Lemieux was charged with murder. He pled "not guilty" and was immediately acquitted by Judge Joseph Cook in a "directed verdict." This ruling is appropriate when it is believed by the court that a jury could come to no other decision.

According to newspaper reports of the time, District Attorney Bert Keating intended to charge Thornbrugh with burglary and also murder in the first degree since Sander's death occurred during the commission of a felony.

Unfortunately, that is where the story ends for me (and now you) because I've found no articles following that announcement and it would cost me a minimum of $30 to access Thornbrugh's prison records. I'm guessing there was no actual trial and Thornbrugh took a deal.

Monsignor Lemieux continued on at St. Catherine's until his retirement, in either 1966 or 1967. He died on October 22, 1977 at the age of 75.

That's no way to treat Barbara Stanwyck!

Barbara Stanwyck, 1943

This entry is about a crime that when it happened seemed (to me) really wrong and it's always bothered me. Most likely because I'm a fan; I'll readily admit, there are way worse crimes against celebrities out there. Connie Francis immediately comes to mind but that's another crime for another time.

Today it's the 1981 home burglary and battery of Barbara Stanwyck.  Maybe this is new to you or perhaps, like me, you took it personally.

Miss Stanwyck described herself as "Tough old broad from Brooklyn," and she was, but some friends indicate that emotionally she never recovered from the assault.

Barbara Stanwyck, 1981

Let's remember, while Barbara will always be remembered for playing tough gals, in 1981 she was a 74-year-old woman living alone at 1055 Loma Vista Drive in Beverly Hills, California.


At roughly 1 AM on Tuesday the 27th of October, Barbara Stanwyck was awakened by a man's voice. He was shining a flashlight in her face and demanding to know where her jewelry was kept. Miss Stanwyck turned on a bedside lamp. She got a quick look at the thief before being hit on the head with a blunt object and thrown into a bedroom closet. Barbara was later able to describe the man as about 6' 2'', 200 pounds and wearing a ski mask. She stayed in the closet for some time before believing the coast was clear, at which point she crawled out and called the police. She was treated for minor injuries at Cedars-Sinai Hospital and released.

Police had little to go on. He seemed to have entered the 3 bedroom home through a broken window. Burglaries in the Trousdale Estates area were rare.

According to newspaper reports at the time, the burglar stole about $5,000 worth of jewelry. November 25, 1985 People Magazine article would estimate the loss to be closer to $40,000. Items stolen included a beloved ruby-encrusted cigarette case from her second husband Robert Taylor.

The crime was never solved.

Sidenote - in 1985 this same home would catch fire and cause an estimated $1.5 million in damages. I distinctly remember Miss Stanwyck saying that the greatest loss was love letters written to her by Robert Taylor.



An "almost unbelievable coincidence."

George Jones

It was March 1958 and young George Jones was proving an invaluable asset to the NYPD. In July of 1957, he'd been instrumental in helping them locate the body of 4-year-old Theresa Murphy and now, nine months later, he seemed to have a pretty good idea of where 7-year-old Louis Diamant was.

Well, of course he knew. This was no coincidence. George had killed both of those children by peevishly pushing them off the same West Side Pier and into the Hudson River.

When Theresa Murphy went missing on June 28, 1957, George Jones and his family were living at the Amsterdam Housing Projects (located between 61st and 63rd Street, Manhattan), the same residence as the Murphy family. George's mom Lynette, 33, worked as a seamstress, he had a younger (by two years) sister named Maggie and Lynette's brother Ladda B. Cook was living with them while attending Columbia University.

George was one of many youngsters interviewed by police in the course of their investigation but he was a standout witness because his story kept changing. Early newspaper accounts suggested that Theresa may have wandered away from home. George told police three different tales. In two of them, he'd claimed responsibility for her death. In one version, he'd accidentally brushed against Theresa and knocked her into the river. Another time George said he'd been throwing rocks in the air, had accidentally hit Theresa in the head with one and she tumbled off the pier. Both of these stories end with George making an attempt to rescue her by dangling a "piece of string" for her to hold on to so that he could pull Theresa out of the water but the string broke. He was unable to find a grownup and ultimately went home. A third version has George trying to shift the blame to another older boy but that kid called George a liar and George readily admitted "yes, he was lying."

The one thing George wasn't lying about was where Theresa could be found. Ten days after she'd gone missing, police found her body right where George said it would be. The Medical Examiner could only prove she'd drowned and it was ruled an accidental death.

Google Maps image showing the location of the Jones/Murphy residence and it's proximity to the Hudson River

Flash forward nine months and the NYPD were now interviewing all the residents of the Elliot Housing Projects (located at 427 W. 26th Street) where Louis Diamant lived with his family. The Jones family, having relocated from the Amsterdam Projects, lived 8 floors below the Diamants. George and Louis knew each other, having both been referred to the Hudson Guild Counseling Service.

Mr. and Mrs. Diamant were Holocaust survivors, now Polish DPs (Displaced Persons), who'd come to America 10 years prior to make a better life for themselves. Their middle child Louis was frail, withdrawn and afraid of the dark. He surely would have returned home from an afternoon of roller skating if he could have. The family was frantic.

Housing Authority Police Office Grantley Crichlow recognized George Jones as the same little boy who'd told conflicting stories when interviewed by police as they searched for Theresa Murphy the previous year but he also remembered that it was George who had eventually led them to her final resting place. Crichlow reported this fact to the detectives working the case and they finally had a break. It seemed an "almost unbelievable coincidence."


Police also found two Amsterdam House boys who told them they'd met their former neighbor George skating with a white boy outside the projects and that George had told them "I want you to meet my friend Louis. He lives in my neighborhood."

Police escorted George and Lynette Jones to the police station for questioning. Several times during the interview Mrs. Jones yelled at her son, "You're lying! Tell the truth."

George Jones and his mother

George would jerk everyone around for a bit before finally disclosing the true location of his second victim, a mere 100 feet from where police had previously found Theresa. He would also reveal his reasons for the murders.



George, pointing police in the right direction

According to George, the younger boy had offered to pay George 10 cents if he would play with him. The two had a good time roller skating but at 5 PM when it was time to hand over the promised dime, Louis admitted that he'd spent that money during the course of their day. George became angry and threw the skate key into the water. Louis got down on his hands and knees to look into the water and when he leaned out over the edge of the pier, George pushed him in after it. George was quoted as saying "He went down fast." George again told the story about dangling a "piece of string" down to Louis but that it broke and failing to find a grownup who could help, he went home. The police weren't buying it and they pressed him further about the death of Theresa Murphy.

George now admitted that he'd offered Theresa Murphy a nickel to walk to the pier with him then he shoved her into the water because he was mad at her. Apparently, Theresa had tattled to George's mom that he'd (ironically) been "pushing children down flights of stairs" and for that his mom had given him a whipping.

George was taken to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital for observation and based on their recommendations, he was committed for "an indefinite period" in a state hospital. He was 11 years old.



Front page of the NY Daily News, on March 7, 1958





"Has anyone seen little Emmogene?"

It was March 9, 1943 and Mary May, aged 43, was looking for the youngest of her 4 children, 6-year-old Emmogene.


All Mrs. May knew was what her son John had told her before he'd headed off to the movies - "Emmogene never came home from school for her lunch." This was confirmed by Albirdie May, aged 11, who returned home from school earlier that day to find only John waiting there. The two had lunch together then they went to report the situation to Mary, who was earning money by doing housework in another family's home.


John hadn't been at school himself; he'd recently dropped out of high school and seemed to be struggling a little bit. John was frequently at odds with his 73-year-old father Arthur and he was irritated by how much noise Emmogene made. John had even run away from home a month prior but he was back now and managed to find work tending the furnace belonging to an elderly woman. A good part of whatever salary John earned seemed to be spent going to the cinema.


By 5:30 PM, everyone would realize John had been lying about Emmogene. Her body was found in their home, wrapped in a rug and shoved under a bed. John was arrested as he exited the movie theater. He managed to see three films that night before being picked up by the police and charged with first degree murder.


John told police he'd been enjoying the silence of the empty house and having a little nap when Emmogene came home that afternoon for lunch and that she wouldn't be quiet no matter how many times he'd asked. So he bound her hands, gagged her with a dish towel, carried her into a bedroom and tortured her with an arrowhead. When Emmogene's squirming dislodged the gag in her mouth, the child started screaming. John grabbed a .22 caliber rifle that belonged to his brother Russell, aged 15, and shot his little sister in the abdomen, not once but three times. He had to go to another room for more bullets and reload after firing the first round because she was "still kicking." With silence restored, John cleaned the gun, hid the body and claimed to know nothing of Emmogene's whereabouts.

John didn't deny what he'd done when questioned by police. In fact, he quite boldly stated, "Sure, I did it. Emmogene used to bother me and I didn't like the noise she made around the house."

As his sentencing drew near, John was quoted as saying "I've tried not to think about it but I just can't escape the thought." "I don't think the judge will be lenient with me. It was my mistake and I'm willing to pay for it."

If only he'd been so understanding two weeks earlier.

At John's trial both the defendant and Judge Paul V. Gadola were in tears as the sentence was handed down. The Judge stated that he felt the youth "was doubtless influenced by 'blood and thunder' movies and books."

John Welsey May was sentenced to "life in prison" which translated to 41 years and 9 months after his sentenced was commuted. John served 25 years and 3 months before being paroled on July 3, 1968, and 4 years later he was no longer required to report to a parole officer.

John died on July 7, 1997 at the age of 71.