MURDERS IN
THE CHICKEN SHACK
NORMAN V.
KELLY
It was a cool morning around
6:15 when a man walked into the dining room of the old Chicken Shack over at
40l6 New York
He walked over to the table
and pointed his finger at one of the women,
“I want my forty dollars and
I want it now.”
The man then walked back to
the door he’d entered and disappeared. Before he left one of the men shouted
out after him, “Shoeshine…don’t start that stuff in here.”
The three ladies looked at
each other as one of the men walked over to close the door. A few minutes later
the man came back inside and walked briskly over to the table, he stopped a few
feet from the lady and again, pointing his finger at her said “I want my money
and you have four minutes to give it to me.” He turned his back as she
protested, walking over to the jukebox in which he deposited a coin. The folks
at the table looked at him: he stood
there, looking over at them. “You got three and a half minutes left,” he said,
pointing at the clock.
The man waited until the
music ended then walked over to the table. In a quick movement of his hand he
pulled out a wicked looking black gun and fired the weapon at point blank
range! The huge slug smashed into the woman’s forehead knocking her backward in
her chair.
The victim’s friend screamed
“My God you shot Dorrie!” The others
looked on in stark terror.
The killer pointed the gun
at the lady, “Yeah, and I’m going to shoot you too, you bitch.” The gun then
roared twice in rapid succession sending two slugs into the hapless woman’s
head!
After the first shots were
fired the two men and one of the ladies scattered, one man even managed to run
from the building.
The lone female survivor ran
to the TV room to hide underneath one of the windows until she heard the man
leave. With trepidation she looked out of the window and watched as the killer
tried to start one of the cars in the parking lot. The man gave up, got out of
the car, and walked off toward War
Memorial Drive
The frightened woman then
ran to the telephone. “Get me the police!”
Screaming, she told the
operator “A man’s been shot…a man is dead!”
A KILLER
ON THE LOSE
Actually the Chicken Shack
is what all of Peoria
Over there at 4016 New York Anderson Anderson
The first lady that was
shot, Dorrie Cooley was pronounced dead at the scene, while the second victim,
Marjorie Hurd was rushed to Saint
Francis Hospital
Detectives found two holes
in the walls, spent cartridges on the floor and
fingerprints around the
dining area. Down at the hospital, a physician recovered a .45 slug that had
fallen into the bloody towel wrapped around the second victim’s head. The
officers were building an airtight case against the alleged shooter, now all
they had to do was find him.
While police cars roared
around town running down tips and leads,
Who was this man, this
Arthur Anderson? Shoeshine was his nickname
and at Age 40, he was well
known by several police departments. The reporters were told by several
officers that Anderson Portland Oregon , Seattle and Vancouver Pittsburgh ,
California and Chicago Peoria
A call came into the Peoria
Heights Police Department that sent officer
Pendleton to the Clark Station. There he found the man they were looking
for and immediately he had him raise his hands. Pendleton said “What’s your
name?” Anderson Anderson was cuffed and put in the back
seat of the police car and taken to the Peoria Heights Peoria County Anderson
“I ain’t got nothin’ to say.”
THE VICTIMS
Horace Payton the venerable
coroner talked a little bit about the victims
during the inquest over
their bodies. Marjorie Hurd was a married woman separated from her husband who
lived in Merrill, Wisconsin Peoria
The coroner said that both
women met their deaths at the hands of a man wielding a .45 caliber automatic,
dying within moments of each other. The coroner said they had died almost instantly
from the heavy caliber slugs. The two friends had been in Peoria Little Rock Arkansas
In a sense the survivors of
the shooting were victims by being so near a terrifying ordeal like they had
gone through. It was traumatizing and the things nightmares are made of. The
state’s attorney’s office decided that these three material witnesses needed to
be secured so the SA brought them up before a judge and had them bonded in the
amount of $5,000.00 each. Hell, that’s
like bail. They asked the court just who the hell the suspect was them or
Anderson? None the less the SA wanted to
make sure they stayed around for the two trials and that was the only way they
could assure it other than jailing them.
The three witnesses, Shirley
McDonald, Agnew McDonald and Willie
Venable accepted their
plight and put up the bond. The SA told them that his cases rested upon their testimony;
after all they were the rarest of rare breeds in a murder case…an eyewitness.
Shirley was notified that a trial was set on 9-24-l964 concerning the attempt
by the Peoria County Health Department to shut her down. The authorities led by
Doctor Fred Long of the health department and the SA, James Cunningham wanted
the motel and the restaurant closed and declared a public nuisance. Not because
of the murder, but previous complaints. So life went on as it usually does once
the suspected killer is behind bars, and by the time the leaves began to fall, Anderson
The grand jury voted true
bills against Arthur Anderson, which included the two murder charges. These
were first degree capital crimes and that meant the death penalty. In capital
crimes the defendant is not eligible for bond, and Anderson
TRIAL NUMBER ONE
I said the charges meant the
death penalty, that sounds good, but in reality, here in Illinois
Prior to the trial the SA
let it be known that he would indeed seek the death penalty which immediately
would make selecting the jury much more difficult. Let’s face it; the death
penalty is very controversial. Citizens that would quickly put a defendant in
jail for 300 years would bulk at a death sentence. As it turned out it took
four days, and 65 rejections to pick the jury, and the reason was the knowledge
that the jurors would have to vote death or not death in the event that the
defendant was found guilty. I hate to say it out loud, but there are jurors who
seek to get on a jury for one reason and that is to vote against the death
penalty. Sad but true.
A public defender was
selected for Anderson Anderson
Another stumbling block was
the fact that this trial could run well over a week and that the jury would be
sequestered. For those unfortunate jury prospects that did not understand the
word sequestered, they soon found out that it meant staying in the Pere Marquette
It was January l965, when
the courtroom of Judge Henry Ingram filled up with spectators, and the trial
finally got underway. The opening arguments were very emotional and the folks
leaned forward in anticipation of a damn good trial. State’s Attorney George
Kennedy told the jury “you have the right to fix a death penalty.” Kennedy
walked closer to the jury looking at each of them “I will not stand here and
demand anything, but I can conceive of no case that would warrant or merit the
death penalty than this one.”
That certainly set the tone
and it was obvious that the SA wanted this man to die in the electric chair and
he set out from the opening bell to make sure that he put him there.
The People presented their
case, opening with the three witnesses to the shooting. Shirley McDonald, Agnew
McDonald and Willie Venable followed each other to the stand explaining to the
jury the horror they witnessed that day the defendant shot Dorrie Cooley. They
were warned and rehearsed about mentioning the shooting of Marjorie Hurd. The
jury could not hear one word about Hurd’s shooting. Mr. Kennedy made a serious
error when he mentioned ‘the two murders.’ He spent the next five minutes
begging the Court’s pardon and asking the jury to disregard the remark. Koos
made two motions for a mistrial, but Ingram allowed the remark to be stricken
from the record and told the jury to disregard it. The jury sat mesmerized as
the horrible shooting unfolded before them, dramatic stuff indeed. The judge
ordered a short recess and as the crowd milled around outside the courtroom it
was obvious to them that this jury would take less than an hour to convict this
man…hell, maybe less.
From the opening round the
defendant seemed agitated, talking to his lawyer, writing furiously on a legal
pad, appearing as if he were ready to jump up at any moment. Finally he did
just that, bolting from his chair, alarming the deputies on duty. He approached
the bench carrying the legal pad. Koos looked up at the judge he shrugged,
showing the judge that he was not in control. For those of you who knew Judge
Henry Ingram you know that this kind of behavior was dangerous. He glared down
at the man in front of him. “You have a motion?”
Arthur Anderson then began
to rant and rave to the judge making motion after motion, asking for a mistrial
and suppression of all the evidence. Ingram listened to the man’s rant then
calmly said “motions denied.”
The trial continued until
late afternoon before another outburst brought the trial to an end until the
matter was cleared up. The jury was excused, as arguments began in front of the
judge’s bench. Anderson Anderson Anderson
Over at Anderson Anderson Anderson
AND
THE ANSWER IS?
After so much time, in and
out of the courtroom, sequestered, left in the dark, surely the jury was ready
to render a verdict on this case and go home. Reporters and spectators gathered
outside the courtroom during the break, milling about talking. “Three people
saw this man kill those women, what in the hell more could they ask?” One of
the reporters took an informal poll among the thirty or so people standing
there, each and every one of them felt that Anderson
Once both sides rested their
cases the courtroom filled up again for the final arguments. This phase of any
trial gives the lawyers a bit of freedom to tell the jury what they had just
heard. It always reminded me of TV personalities telling the viewer what the
President of the United
States
Elmo Koos told the jury that
it was a conspiracy by the witnesses. His client did not kill Dorrie Cooley and
demanded that Anderson
Eighteen days, that’s right,
eighteen days it had taken to bring this case to a close. It was now February
22, l965 and as the trial concluded the jury stirred with eagerness to get on
with it. They got the case and began deliberations. They took breaks, broke for
lunch and found themselves deliberating on Saturday morning, and still no
verdict. The judge called them in and sent them back to deliberate further.
Finally after fourteen hours the jury was called back into Judge Henry Ingram’s
Courtroom.
‘I assume you are unable
to reach a verdict?”
Foreman Don Schaffer
concurred, “That’s correct your honor.”
So the jury of five men and
seven men were dismissed. They had heard the evidence, listened to 32
instructions of the law by Judge Ingram and were unable to agree as to the
verdict. Eighteen days, all those witnesses, all that testimony for nothing.
The prosecution was bitterly disappointed; the defense was tasting somewhat of
a victory. But…in the end it was all for naught, the entire process would have
to be done all over. Justice is a fleeting mistress.
TRIAL NUMBER
TWO
MARCH 26, 1965
PEORIA , ILLINOIS
The new trial began with the
lengthy process of picking another jury, with both sides trying to incorporate
what they had learned from picking the last jury. Think about it for a moment,
the SA’s office would put on the same evidence and the defense would counter
just like the first trial. What then was the big difference? Of course it was
or would be the jury. Nothing really changed in the second trial it had the
same defendant, same facts, different jury and a different victim. This time
the jury would not be allowed to hear anything about the murder of Dorrie
Cooley, this time it would be all about Marjorie Hurd.
Judge Albert Pucci would
preside. He was a small, fiery man from Putnam County Anderson
The battle raged just like
it did in the first trial, but this one moved along at a quicker pace. Bother
lawyers knew from the last trial what evidence would be allowed, so less shadow
boxing was done. There was a black box I told you about that became a bone of
contention. This cuff links box was found in the suitcase of the defendant when
he left it at the motel. Inside it, along with a set of cuff links, were five
.45 caliber bullets. The prosecution had on the stand a ballistics expert, Mr. Litterly.
Kennedy picked up Exhibit 22 and walked over to the witness. Koos objected
telling the court that the exhibit had not been admitted into evidence. After
some heated argument, the Judge refused to allow the little black box into
evidence. Kennedy seemed a bit perplexed as he looked at his notes then up at
the judge “Your honor I have no further questions for this witness.”
The story unfolded from the
witness box until the People finally rested. The defense put on two employees
from Illinois Bell
So the trial of Shoeshine Anderson
BETTER LUCK
THIS TIME?
After six hours the jury
came back, it was April 2, l965. Jury Foreman John Anderson handed the piece of
paper with the verdict written on it to the bailiff. The courtroom was quiet as
the judge looked at the verdict then over at the Defendant. The bailiff handed
the verdict to the judge as Elmo Koos and Shoeshine Anderson
“The jury finds the defendant Arthur Anderson
guilty as to all counts.”
Elmo Koos then asked that
the jury be polled. The judge asked each and every juror if that indeed was his
or her verdict. They all answered that it was. The jury did not recommend the
death penalty so the sentencing would be up to Judge Albert Pucci. He could not
give the death penalty but he certainly could sentence Anderson
JUDGE PUCCI
DECIDES
It was May 26, l965 when
Judge Pucci entered his courtroom to pass sentence upon Defendant Arthur
Anderson for the murder of Marjorie Hurd. He sat at the bench looking out at
the spectators, waiting for them to quiet down, which they quickly did.
“The court of this state has but
one function and that
is to protect the liberty of its
citizens. If a man injuries
another and damages that man then
the plaintiff should
be made whole”
The judge went on to tell
the folks in the courtroom how precious liberty was. Then he got to the
sentencing aspect of the trial.
“The jury that found the defendant
guilty for taking the life of
Marjorie Hurd spared him the ultimate loss
of liberty. Marjorie Hurd will never know liberty again. What was her liberty?
It
is the duty of this court to
take the defendant’s liberty.”
Judge Albert Pucci then
sentenced Arthur (Shoeshine) Anderson
Before the judge was able to
leave the bench, Anderson
SHOESHINE IS
BACK
Down in the Bat Cave ,
which is what I call the Archives, where Barry and his small staff serve Peoria Anderson Anderson was in the
Psychiatric Division of the Illinois
State
On June l0, l965, the warden
sent Arthur Anderson down to Peoria Anderson Assistant State
So let’s leave this case and
move on to the next story. Arthur Shoeshine Anderson
died in l987 while still a guest of the State of Illinois
Editor’s Note: Norm
is a Peoria Historian and author of twelve books
available only in the Peoria norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net
