Axe syndicate

The axe murder gang or axe syndicate was a group of people believed to have been responsible for a four-year spate of brutal killings which started in November 1919 and ended in October 1923.

Though no overall pattern connecting the crimes was established, they appeared to fall into at least two classifications. In many cases small shop owners, often foreign-born, were targeted in robberies. In another group of cases, police suspected retribution in disputes between thieves and their fences. The attacks on shop owners apparently ended after five African Americans were arrested in the winter of 1923–24.

Accounts of the number of crimes committed by the gang vary, as to the lists of people killed or wounded in their attacks. The New York Times reported there had been 24 killed in 44 attacks, while the Birmingham papers counted only 15 dead and 13 wounded attributable to the "syndicate".

Numerous arrests were made, but no convictions obtained in the attacks. On December 11, 1923 an African American man, Fred Glover, was arrested on suspicion of attacking Mr & Mrs Edwin Sparks two days earlier. Glover, who had recently served time for burglary and grand larceny, was brought to the hospital and identified by Mrs Glover as her attacker. A search of his home produced a short-handled blood-stained hatchet and a pistol.

Four more arrests followed on January 6, 1924. Glover, Peyton Johnson, John Reed, and O'Delle and Pearl Jackson were given doses of an experimental "truth serum" consisting of scopolomine and morphine. While under the influence of the drug mixture, they collectively confessed to eight of the murders. Those confessions were affirmed after the effects of the drug had worn off. Furthermore, Jefferson County Solicitor James Davis said that the suspects' statements included elements of some of the crimes which had not been made public.

Investigators described a "syndicate" of murderers who drew straws for the privilege of attacking selected targets. A man named Garfield was alleged to have founded the syndicate, but had died of natural causes during 1922. Three members of the gang were presumed to remain at-large. By February, 10 suspects had been identified.

Interrogations

Most of the suspects were interrogated using an experimental "truth serum", a mixture of scopolamine and morphine, which was also given to pregnant women to ease delivery. The drug put the suspects into what was described as a "twilight sleep," during which they lacked the will to lie.

The interrogations were led by a local physician, given the fictitious name of "A. A. Goldberg" in press accounts. He prescribed a typical dosage of four ounces of the mixture. After a preliminary medical examination to screen for conditions that would make the drug dangerous, the drug would be delivered in increments by hypodermic needle or in capsule form. The subject would be told beforehand to remember a number, and asked to recall it periodically while the drug was administered. When the subject could no longer remember the number, he was considered to be ready for questioning. Interrogation was conducted in a darkened room, using bright lights to "recall the suspect to his senses". The usual methods of the "third degree", such as pushing, rough handling, slaps, kicks, curses, terrifying stage effects, and deprivation from food, drink, and sleep, would not be used. The drug was not found to be infallible, as many statements made by prisoners were deemed meaningless.

In February 1924, Davis reported that he was convinced of the effectiveness of the serum. He credited it with leading police to parties they did not initially suspect, but whose involvement was corroborated by the discovery of physical evidence in searches. He stated that "when criminals adopt an attitude of silence in the Jefferson County jail their tongues will be unlocked with this serum," which he predicted would become "generally used" over the next few years. He indicated that police from around the country had contacted him for more information about the use of scopolamine in criminal investigation.

Incidents

1919

• November 28: G. T. Ary was robbed and killed.
• December 24: John Belser was robbed and killed.

1921

• December 21: Joseph Mantione and his wife were robbed and killed.
• December 21: Mose Parker was robbed and killed.

1922

• January 11: Clem Crawford and his wife were robbed and killed.
• June 3: One of three members of the Lucia family died following an attack on their shop.
• November 6: Abraham Levine was robbed and killed.

1923

• January 10: Joseph Klein was robbed and killed.
• January 24: Luigi and Josephine Vitellaro were robbed and killed.
• May 28: Charles Graffeo was robbed and killed in his store. It appeared as if the attacker had come in and placed a nickel on the counter to purchase a bottle of oil. Graffeo was found behind the counter with his skull crushed by the blow of an axe and his throat cut. A blood-spattered axe with a shortened handle was found behind the shop's door. His pockets and the store's register had been rifled.
• October 22: Elizabeth Romeo and her daughter, Juliet Vigilante, were robbed and killed at Bernard Vigilante's shop. The attacker used a meat cleaver and stole $60 from the cash register.
• November 4: W. T. Conway, a white man, and Jane Jackson, a young African American, were attacked in a downtown alley with an axe or hatchet. Police theorized at the time that a "negro secret society" was acting violently "to prevent intimate relations of colored women with white men."
• November 25: John Juliana, a coal miner, was struck in the head and robbed while walking along a dark street.
• December 9: Edwin Sparks and his wife were attacked with a hatchet. Mrs Sparks identified Fred Glover as her attacker when he was brought to the hospital.

1924

• May 24: L. M. Watkins and Richard Warner were attacked and robbed. Frank Owens was found with a bloody axe in his possession and shot while trying to elude captors. He later confessed to the attack.
• May 27: J. B. Smith, 60, a night watchmen for the Adamson Motor Company, was found dead with his head crushed. His revolver and purse were stolen.

Convictions

• Peyton Johnspn was convicted of the murder of John Robert Turner and sentenced to death.
• Pearl Jackson was convicted of the murder of John Robert Turner and sentenced to death on May 28, 1924.

References

• "White man and negress found murdered in Alabama city" (November 5, 1923) Associated Press
• "'Truth Serum' Involves Five in Axe Murders, Clearing Up 44 Crimes in Birmingham, Ala." (January 1924) The New York Times
• Sturdivant, B. V. (February 1924) "Truth serum successfully used in solving Alabama murders, solicitor says." International News Service
• "Ax Murders - Alabama" (December 11, 2006) at Serial Killer Central