THIRD DEGREE VICTIM

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXI, Issue 10923, 24 September 1932, Page 4

THIRD DEGREE VICTIM

VOUTH DIES AFTER EIGHT HOURS’ ORDEAL. Public indignation in the United States has been stirred to a high pitch by the revelations which have followed the death of a young prisoner at Mineola, Long Island, who, it is alleged, was a victim of brutal “Third Degree’’ methods. After being “questioned” by detectives for eight hours the unfortunate youth collapsed and was taken to hospital, where he died of a fractured larynx and cerebral hemorrhage. There were other injuries suggesting violent ill-treat-ment. Three other young men who were under arrest at the same time were important witnesses at the public inquiry into the affair. They were bruised and battered, and they declared that they had been flayed with strips of rubber hose in an effort to force them to confess a crime of which they were suspected. Thirteen policemen have been arrested. Four are charged with murder in the second degree, and the others with conspiring to obstruct the course of justice. Police Chief Accused in Court.

Responding swiftly to the public outcry, the judicial authorities on Long Island have Instituted a searching inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Hyman Stark, aged 20.

Justice Steinbrink, of the Supreme Court, is conducting the proceedings, and already a shocking state of affairs has been revealed. Stark, despite his youth, had a bad criminal record. He and three other young men were arrested at Mineola on suspicion of having assaulted Mrs Valeria Hizenski, the mother of Det. Hizenski.

According to the police, the four youths entered Mrs Hizenskl’s home, apparently under the impression that it was a storage place for liquor. When their demands for whisky and money were rejected they are alleged to have beaten Mrs Hizenski and stolen a few pieces of jewellery and a small sum of money. They fled in, a motor car, but, the number having been taken, they were quickly captured.

Mrs Hizenski received injuries to her head and face, and alleged that Stark was the man who beat her. It is alleged that Stark was questioned continuously for eight hours by detectives in relays in an attempt to get a confession from him, and at the end of that time he was rushed to Nassau Hospital with great secrecy. He died 20 minutes after being admitted. Struck on “Adam’s Apple.

Dr. Otto Schultze, who conducted the post-mortem examination, reported that Stark died of a fractured larynx and cerebral hemorrhage. The fracture, he declared, could have been caused by repeated beating of the ’’Adam’s apple” of the victim with a truncheon, rubber hose, or the butt of a revolver. The autopsy also revealed a blackened eye and head lacerations. “Apparently an over-ei\th,uslastic police officer broke Stark’s Adam’s apple,” was the comment of DistrictAttorney Elvin Edwards, who has taken charge of the case. He declared that he had evidence of alleged police brutality, and if culpability were shown he would pres a charge of murder.

The three surviving prisoners vehemently denied being concerned in the attack on Mrs Hizenski. Their lawyers declared that all three were severely asaulted by the police. At the headquarters in Mineola they were shown Stark lying on the floor of a room and were threatened with the same fate unless they admitted their guilt. “You are going to talk,’ 'the lawyers declared that the police said, “or you will never get out of here alive.” It is also asserted that when one of the prisoners, after eight hours’ gruelling, asked for water, a jug of it was thrown in his face but he was

not permitted to drink. Before the public inquiry opened thirteen policemen were suspended. Among them are Deputy Chief Frank Tappen and Det. Hizenski. The three young prisoners' were the principal witnesses at the inquiry. They were bruised and battered when they appeared In court, and Judge Steinbrink had to assure them that they had the fullest protection of the law. One of them testified that he saw Stark lying unconscious on the floor with a thick-set detective standing over him with a rubber pipe. * Foot on His Throat. • Another, Issy Stein, gave the following graphic description of the scene:— “A big guy came in and said, ‘So you’re the mugs.’ Then about four of them jumped on us and started to beat us. They took me downstairs, where one of them said, T’ll kill you before you come out if you don’t talk.’ Stark was taken to another room. They hit me with a rubber pipe and struck me with their fists.’’ A sensation was caused when Mr Martin Littleton, the Assistant Public Prosecutor, went into the wit-ness-box and declared that Tappen, the deputy police chief, told him that he placed one foot on Stark’s body and the other on his throat, and “rocked back and forth.” Tappen, who is Gl’t. in height and weighs over 17 stone, was perspiring and breathing heavily, according to Mr Littleton, when he emerged from the room where the detectives were questioning the prisoners. Mr Littleton added that Tappen, refering to Stark, remarked, “That’s the toughest I ever saw!” Tappen repudiated Mr Littleton’s story, but he admitted in examination that he knew no reason why the Assistant Public Prosecutor should have made such statements if they were not true. Judge Steinbrink closely questioned the police witnesses, and called more than one a liar and accused them of perjury.