SIX ITALIANS EXECUTED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18706, 12 May 1924, Page 9

SIX ITALIANS EXECUTED.

MURDER . IN . LOUISIANA^, STORMING OF PRISON YARD. GRUESOME DEATH SCENES. By Telegraph— Association— Copyright. (Received 6.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z.-Benter. ' NEW YORK. May 9. With forces of State troopers guarding the streets, a murder case, which aroused international interest in 1921 and which recently culminated • in an appeal from • Sigrior Mussolini- . himself to the President, Mr.. Calvin ; Coolidge',' i was terminated i;.at • Amite City, Louisiana, to-day by the hanging of the six men. involved. All were Italians. Three vears ago they were implicated jointly "in the. killing of a restaurantkeeper named Calmes. . ~ Crowds from neighbouring cities flocked to Amite City and , stormed the prison yard, which was guarded by 300 militiamen. The latter were stationed shoulder to shoulder behind a moat filled with 4ft. of water. • . Two of the prisoners attempted to escape the gallows by stabbing themselves, ' but the authorities sprung the death trap. j Another prisoner was unconscious frosn ! terror when death came. ! The story of the •crime shows that in May, 1921, the Italians had effected a ! bold bank robbery. They : were making : their escape across Calmes' property when j the latter, in attempting to stop them, j was shot dead by one of the robbers. ■ Aided by bloodhounds the police tracked I the gang to a deserted house, where all were arrested and subsequently convicted of murder. It had been established, however, that' only one man actually fired the ' fatal shot, and for three years fruitless ' efforts had been made to determine which lof the six it was. . ; The disclosure came dramatically at s Easter, when one of the accused men, ; Roy Leona, requested the services of a priest. He confessed to the latter that jhe had fired the shot. '-■'■'•*' i The priest told Leona he could not ex- ' pect .forgiveness without a public confession. This the man duly made on the following day. '.'. ' The case aroused much sympathy, and innumerable appeals marked the three years', legal battle," all of which were fruitless, however. The "Governor of the State declared that Leona's own state- ■ ment, instead of exonerating his companions, convicted each one of them.