MURDER ON A DOWNTOWN STREET

                                      MURDER  ON  A  DOWNTOWN  STREET

                                         

                                         NORMAN  V.  KELLY

 

It was a warm August 2, 1930 in downtown Peoria, Illinois, a Saturday night to be precise.  Prohibition was still the law of the land, but in Peoria, Illinois anyone who wanted a drink of alcohol had no problem getting it.  The downtown area was a busy place to be and gambling and other vices were easy to come by.  The stores were just closing and the crowds were heading home.  Suddenly the sound of rapid gunfire echoed down the narrow streets.  Folks stopped dead in their tracks then began running toward the disturbing sound.

 

Peoria Police Officer Robert Koegel leaned against the building at 1122 North Adams checking out the folks that hurried by.  At the beginning of his shift he always had a man or two to keep an eye out for; being the diligent cop that he was. A shiny Essex sedan pulled into the driveway next to the building.  Koegel eyed it when he heard angry voices coming from within the automobile.  Alert, but not alarmed, the officer approached the open window on the driver’s side.

 

“Officer the guy in the back seat has a gun!  Will you please take it from him?”

 

Officer Koegel saw a man and a woman in the front seat and a rather over weight man in the back seat.  “What’s the trouble here?”

 

Looking at the man in the back seat, Koegel said, “Do you have a gun?”

 

“Yeah so what”?  It was a curt, surly response to the officer’s question.

 

The cop reached out and wiggled his fingers.  “Let’s have it.”

 

The suspect was now aiming the gun directly at Koegel.  “Don’t move copper… or I’ll kill you!”

 

The driver of the vehicle was now holding a gun in his hand aiming it at the man in the back seat.  “Don’t worry officer…I got him covered.”

Immediately multiple shots rang out as the two men opened fire.

The first bullet hit the officer in the left shoulder forcing him backwards. As he went for his gun he was hit again, knocking him to the sidewalk. Still, more shots rang out as the two men continued their point blank firing at each other. The sound was deafening as the interior of the car filled with acrid smoke. Suddenly the driver’s door flew open.  The woman passenger then leaned over the driver and fired two quick shots in to the prone body of Officer Koegel!

 

As terrified witnesses dove for cover the driver and his female passenger stumbled out of the car and ran towards Persimmons Street. The crowd watched as one brave man walking with a pegged leg and a crutch scrambled after the shooters.  That brave man was a local man named Carl Traub.  He told police that the suspect yelled back at him, “Okay, Peggy, you better get lost.”  Believe me, that was a funny line and it was repeated over and over here in Peoria, Illinois.

 

George Perkins, an Elmwood farmer lost his car to the suspects and he ended up in a tavern trying to soothe his nerves. Suddenly four police officers rushed him and dragged him off to jail. He was finally cleared, but told reporters, “I’ll stay in Elmwood from now on…this place is nuts.”

 

                HENRY  D.  FASH  KILLED AFTER  DUAL IN  AUTO

 

That was the headline in the morning paper and of course was the talk of the town.  Officer Henry Koegel had been severely wounded and was in critical condition in the hospital. One slug had penetrated his lung, but through some miracle the officer somehow survived his serious wounds.

 

Police reported that at least fourteen shots had been fired and marveled at the fact that anyone escaped that car alive. So the investigation into the murder of Fash and the shooting of Officer Koegel was the focus of the police and the newspapers. Police spent weeks investigating the shooting, questioning dozens of witnesses, but ended up totally baffled. The coroner held his inquest, the detectives turned in their reports but the investigation went nowhere.

 

                                          OCTOBER 5, 1939

 

Nine years later the police, acting on a tip, went to Terre Haute, Indiana and came back with Theodore Robert Smith, the suspected killer of Mr. Fash. Smith told the press that he was nowhere near Peoria when Fash and the officer were shot.  Of course the reporters cornered Officer Koegel.     “Did this Theodore Smith shoot you officer Koegel?”

Koegel nodded, “He’s the man that shot me.”

Case closed…right?

                                      JANUARY  15, 1939

On a cold, blustery January the Peoria County Courthouse was over run by potential jurors and spectators. The murder trial of Theodore Smith was about to get underway and the hot ticket seats were hard to come by. The courtroom drama unfolded reaching a climax when Officer Koegel pointed to the defendant.  “That is the man that shot me.”  “Are you certain?”

“I am absolutely positive!”

                                           THE  VERDICT

On January 29, 1939, after closing arguments and instructions from the judge, the case was handed over to the jury.  After lunch they began their deliberations. Two hours later they were back in the courtroom with a unanimous verdict.

“Your honor in the matter of the People versus Robert Theodore Smith, we find the defendant Not Guilty!”

Officer Koegel and the prosecuting attorney sat stunned at the verdict.

The spectators had exploded the moment the decision was published creating chaos in the courtroom.  Reporters went racing out of the room heading for telephones and typewriters.  They had some exciting news to report…exciting indeed. 

Editor’s Note:  Norm is a local historian and author and a monthly contributor to ADVENTURE  SPORTS  OUTDOORS. He welcomes your comments. norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net