Richmond planet. [volume], June 29, 1929, Image 1

About Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
JUi V 29 1929
VOLUME XLV1 NO. 31
RICHMOND .VIRGINIA, SATURDAY
w
PRICE, FIVE CENTS
JOHN ANDERSON, KILLER OF WIFE-DAUGHTER IS
CAPTURED IN GAMBLE’S HILL PARK
A Gonfession. • ‘Na&Qed into
Grime, Says He.
JOE HARRIS KILLED BY DECATUR STRAUS
(Special by JohD Mitchell Jr.-)
Coroner James M. Whitfield held
an inquest Thursday, June 27. 1929
in h,s office: in the case of Joseph
Harris, who was shot and hired
Saturday. June 22nd by Decatur
Strother about dusk.
Dr. W. P. Barnes resident in
surgery at the Memorial Hospital,
said that Joseph Harris* when ad
mitted to St. Philips Hospital1 was
suffering from a bullet wound at
the entrance of the upper part of the
left thigh, the interior part of the
outer smrface. The bullet made sev
eral wounds in the intestines’ from
which wounds, the patient died at
about 1:15 A. M. June 23, 1929.
CHARLES KELLYSTATEMENT.
Charles Kelly. who resides at
S02 1-2 N. Second Street stated that
on Saturday afternoon he and hi3
\riie were sitting on the porch when
a colored man was sitting in an au
tomobile in front of his house. A
man was talking to the man !n the
automobl'e. He could not hear what
he was saying. Th° man on the side
walk wore a light cap. He had a
ban dag v on h:-; head. Th^ man shot
the mar in the car twice and th”n
he put ti.e n stol ’‘n his sdiirt.
OOT OUT CAP...
*
The ip hi r.V car got out and
wont r • )’ on Second St. The man
who did ’"•‘O'icg w nit *o Du
val St. v' "n Duva! St. ‘o First St.
■T. PI of *he Manhattan
For H‘v r’o . !>t'1 ‘h’♦ ]i( lives a‘
S12 N. ;S^"r.»d St. He bad just
driven - h^n h saw c man wear
ing a I • it and wearing a band
age are- h! Vu head f're a* the matt
in the cm*. Thp mar got out of the
car on th- driveway ‘-Ido and the
man ran r-ounc! the car and si-ot
him aga n. Th-* injured man ran to
the sidewalk and the man fired on
him again. The wounded man
droppe 1 on h’« ’ and and kn<o and
■went up Second Street north.
WENT INTO A YARD.
(He went into the yard next to his
house. The man who shot him went
down to Duval St. and went up in
the direction of Erst St. When the
officers came Booth showed them
where the wounded man was. Harris
told tli^ officers who shot him. He
was carried to the hospital. Decatur
Strother was brought in handcuffed
and Booth identified him as the ono
who did the shooting.
Strother led the defectives a long
and gloomy chase. He was evidently
making for West Point. He was
caught in a thicket between Walker
ton and Lestor Manor. The officers
engaged in the chase were De
tective Sergeants F. I. Gentry 0.
D. Garten C. C. Eddleton, T. G.
Waljton, R. B. Sterling and George
W. Wills.
STRUCK WITH IRON.
Strother stated that he had a row'
with Joe Harris at Rose and Fell
Streets just above Happyland
Amusement Park. Harris struck him
over the head with a piece of iron.
He went home and got his pistol
meeting him at Second and Diival
Sts., where he shot him. There
were three warrants out for Stroth
er. One was for assaulting and
beating Joe Harris, another was for
footing Joe Harris and the other
was for killing Joe Harris.
An inquesit was held in the cases
of Gertrude Anderson and Lillian
RcYVnson in Coroner Whitfield's of
Wednesday who were shot and
killed by John Anderson husband
I father respectively of the two
dec ed women. Fannie White, sis
'' * *:•!•- • •• .1 that she
■ at TO-* N. Third St. and
r"' n \ri(h rson resides at P>02
N Tii'rd St. On the 21st inst. about
2:'.' A. M. John came to her sis
■ 7 2 br< ke open
doo: searched the p'a> ■ until lie
f und his pistol in the bureau
• r.
n y
S .e told him not to go :n her
things. (I'd not tel] her what he
’■ with the pistol.
*M' linua Anderson stated that
(> ' "do Anderson was her mother
and she lived at 725 X. Second St.
On Fr day 21st inst. John Anderson
hot them at 735 X. Second St Ho
tl'nibed through the window in ’lie
noddle room, got across the bed
where she was and went in*o th”
front room. She saw him take a
pistot from his pocket while he was
stand’ng at the foot of her mother’s
bed. Her mother asked him for some
money. He did not say anything
but shot her.
THE BOV’S STATEMENT.
i
William Robinson said: 1 am 1 r<
years old. Gertrude Anderson was
niv mother and Lillian Robinson
was my sister. When John Anderson
began shooting I "was awakened by
the noise. I was asleep in the middle
room. I got under my bed and saw
Lillian run to the window in the
front room and call Mrs. Bradley.
Hc shot her.whilje she was at the
window, and then he jumped out of
the front window.
EARLY IN THE MORNING. .
^John Anderson came to the house :
about 3 o’clock A. M. on Friday. !
Gertrude asked him for money. He
said he had no money. She said if
he did not get her some money, she',
would have him arrested. He said
if he went to the penitentiary, when i
he got out, he would kill her. He :
h)t. her then and went down the
front steps. Some time after 5 A . ^
M. he came back and shot her.
' SAID HE’D RAISE HELL. ..
Arthur Mason, 615 N. Second St.
said that on Friday morning, be
tween 2:30 and 3 o’clock John An- i
d^rson was in the center of Jackson
St. near Second St. talking to him
c if. No one was near him. Henry
Men s laughed and said: ’‘Look at j
him talking to himself.” Anderson
, , - to tflj: coiner, showed a pistol
anct said h® was going to raise
plenty of hell before morning. When
•in saw Anderson aga n hr was
i pi’ng out of 725 N. Second St.
whh n pistol in his hand. He went ■
through a side alley towards Third
St.
Juno 25. 192«. '
A man named Paf in the P n' en
favv hottem saw John An tiers'n
on Gamble’s Hill Park around ten
o’c’oek and he told ano‘h r hoy who
cn.iled vp Po'’>e Hoadqrnrtoi’s. An
derson w: nt down to the canal
where he was captured. Thr?e p’aiu
o:othes detective? arrested him. He
•c"d thm that he had decided to
surrender himself ton’ght t Tuesday)
He said that he had so’d his eim in
orcl r 'o get something to eat.
I had been over to the Police
Court and had left thero for the
Riehmohd Bureau of Health Depart
ment. where I had secured a list of
deaths of colored people. Funeral
D rector C. P. Hayes dame in to
fjle the death certificate of John
Milton (Cremator}) Karris and later
I went into the Detective Headquar
ter^ where that keen-witted skill
ful Chief of the Bureau, Captain A.
S. Wright has charge. The sergeant
remarked: “Wfi have some news for
you John Anderson is in there with
Captain Wright. He was captured
at afbout 10:30 in Gambles Hill
Park.”
THE PRISONER’S STORY.
It was then only 11 o’clock.
Shortly afterwards the door of Cap
tain Wright’s office was opened and
the order was given to call the wa
gon . I was ushered into the office
where permission was given to me
to interview’ John Anderson. I lost
no time in doing this. He told bis
story. Said he:
“I was there Thursday night be
tween 10:30 and 11 o’clock. My
wife nagged me into doing what I
did. She wanted money. 1 had
al^ancd “Tap” Turner’s car that af
ternoon. 1 got some sandwiches and
carried them to her
_OFFERED HER MONEY.
"She sa cl she? did not want them.
I offered her the money that I had
made. It was 54.00. She refused
to take it. She said she would have
me arrested the next da.y I left
her. I went to my sister’s house
702 N. Third Street. Her name is
pmma Anderson. I had my gun
there. I teturned, came up the back
way. between five and six o’clock
crawled through the window over
the bed in which my daughter slept
and went into the front room arid
fired on them .1
LEFT THE CITY.
“I went out the front way.
through the side a'ley to Third
St. out Third to Hospital St. I
left the city.” t..
When questioned as to where he
wont lie would not tell. 1 asked him
how many miles away dJd he go:
five, ten fifteen or twenty. He said
less than twenty. He had no w’hero
to go. He intended to surrender him
self to the police that night. John
Anderson is tall, very dark elean
faccvd and silimly' huiltt. . He said
that he intended to tell fhe whole
truth. His statements tallied accur
ately with other information giv^n.
i’ ON THE WAY TO PRTS«N.
“The wagon ;s here” was the in
formation given. CaptaiD Wr ght
wanted tc know if v"cr. tluo-gli
in the affirmative. John Anderson,
with a detective who had his hand
|.with our interV.ew. We answered
holding him in the rear of the upper
waist-band of his pantaloons went
out thiough the doorway to the
waiting patrol wagon where he was
aonveyed to the lock-up. What will
be done' with him is now* the quee
I tion. a itfild-mannered individual
!no one would be disposed to believe
that he could be guilRy of the crime
now docketed against him.
i. A SORROWING GROUP.
He killed his wlife. his step
daughter. who is the mother of a
babe and his own wife was soon to
become a mother. It is another leaf
from the chapter of life. His family
hie children, his sisters all share
in the sorrows which have come to
them. What wi\" the end b3? -
(Special by John Mitchell, Jr.)
With.n a few yards of where the
slain bodies of Gertrude Anderson
and her daughter Lillian Robinson
lay Decatur Straus alias Kalam
' Strother shot and killed Joe Harris
Saturday nigh> June 22 1929 as
he came cp in an automobile. Three
shets are alleged to have been fired
tw.-. before Joe alighted from the car
and the other afterwards. The men
are said to have had a quarrel a
short time preceding. The officers
were quickly on the scene. Harris
was hurried to St. Philips Hospital
and died Sunday morning. His re
mains were turned over to Funeral
Director A. D. Price.
I MATERIAL WITNESSES HELD.
| i
Percy Austin alias “Stick-pin'' 100
E. Marshall Street and John King
529 Pientiss Street are being held
• as material witnesses and were en
deavoring to secure their release on
bond Monday morning. Fannie
! Whit* 702 N. Third Street was
1 also held as a material witness in
the John Anderson cass as was
James McCoy. 002 N. Third Street.
There was much excitement about
noon Saturday 22nd inst. when it
was reported that John Anderson
nad been seen on Second Street. Of
, fleers with riot guns rushed to the
place. .... i
THE WRONG MAN.
A cdlored man was seen running
tycra house to house. He proved
net to be John And^rsun. Much dis
gust lias Wen caused at the Police
D nartxnort Headquarters due to the
fa; :.ie cf John Anderson to surren
der hintseli. They argue he must
know that he cannot get away with
feuch a cr*n.e as that and that all
favorable consideration that he
m ght receive would be dissipated
by his running away and cobtinuing
to try tc elude the police. The drag
ncit is bufng spread alii over this
co untry and he will be finally located
.. THE WOMEN’S FUNERALS.
The fHnerals of Gertrude Ander
son and her daughter took place
Ijast Monday 2:30 P. M. at the Mt.
Moriah Baptist Church with Rev.
Dr. R. V'. Peyton officiating. It is
reported that John Anderson has
h^irctofore been a merrfber of the
Second Baptist Church.
, Another death took place. John
Milton Harr s nicknamed John Cre
matory dropped dead at about 5 A.
: M. Monday. Funeral Director C.
p Hayes has charg0 of Ills remains.
THOSE DEADLY WOUNDS.
Gertrude Anderson was shot thru
the liver the ball passed through the
pancreas and also on the back' of
the left shoulder. Her daughter
‘ wa« shot tliroueh the heart and in
the front of the rieht arm. Both
women were accordingly shot twice.
(Special by John Mitel cl I Jr.)
‘ John Anderson shot and killed
Gertrude Anderson his wife and
Lillian Robinson, his step-daughter
Fridav morning. June 21st at abou*
■5:30 o’clock. He entered the house
• through the rear window upstairs
and after the murders made his es
cape. His wife was soon to become
a mother. I heard about the tragedy
i at about 6:30 A. M. and hastened
tto 735 North Second Street where
l it took place. Groups of co*ored
i folks had gathered, while the Police
! Department was busy endeavoring
tto locate the murderer.
i A BLOODY CHAMBER.
{
j
No one seemed to know much
* about the affair as to how it oc
1 curred until I reached the house.
A rent sign was on the front. Up
stairs in the front room,, .where the
slaying took place were members of
the family. A double bed in the
north side* of the room with a
bloody spot in the centre, about 18
inches in diameter showed witere the
ijfe blood of the two women had
ebbed; Bullet holes were in the
wal^s. Both were in the bed at the
time. The story told was that An
derson, who came back and forth
to the house, living at the time with
his Sister Mrs. Martha Wood 602
North Third Street upstairs, came
into the house about 3 o’clock that
morning.
I A STORY OF THE QUARREL
He and his wife had some words
about his not bringing any money
to take care of the children. He left
in a fit of anger, returning shortly
after 5 o’clock when without say
ing anything he opened fire on the
women in the bed killing both of
them. He had come in the back way
(walking up the steps in the roar
IA window opened on the back
porch. Through this window he
(crawled and passing through the
i rear room went into the front One
took the lives of his wife ahd her
grown daughter.
MANY CHILDREN.
' He then hurriedly left the room.
1 His wife’s youngest clrld is two
years of age. Wiliam H. Douglass
1G E. Baker Street is Gertrude An
■ derson’s brother. John Anderson had
f've children by Gertrude Ar.derson.
Ediv.ard Robinson. Peter Robinson
are brothers of Gertrude Anderson
' wl.Ie Mai in da Robinson 91G St.
James St. is mother of Gertrude
Anderson. Marie Robinson is sister
(f Gertrude Anderson. The mur
dered woman is the mother of S
children. Their names are: Ma inda
nickname Cosy- Dorothy Gertrude
johnny and Thelma. His children
are: Charley and Waverly.
..THE TWO WOMEN’S BODIES.
Lillian Robinson is John Ander
son’s step-daughter, being his wife’s
child. Both had children when they
married. Going down to Funeral
Director F. H. Hayes’ establishment
I found the two women laid out on
cooling boards. No autopsy had been
made to determine the track of the
bul'ets. It was a veritably slaughter
pen. with threp live* taken but with
only two viable as Anderson’s wife
was soon to became a mother.