The Kidnapping and Murder of Little Skeegie Cash: J. Edgar Hoover and Florida's Lindbergh Case

14. “The Most Cold-Blooded Thing I Ever Heard Of ”

14 “The Most Cold-blooded Thing i ever heard of ” five Days Later—June 14, 1938 The wheels of the Dade County justice system began turning almost as soon as J. edgar hoover announced the fbi had secured a confession. S. L. Kendrick , serving as both coroner and homestead’s justice of the peace, impaneled a six-man jury for the coroner’s inquest. They assembled in a room of the turner funeral home, right down the hall from where bailey and vera Cash had earlier grieved for their lost child.State’s attorney George A.Worley demanded swift justice,and he resolved to bring franklin McCall to trial as quickly as possible.1 The coroner’s inquest is a relic from antiquity that wormed its way into American jurisprudence via the english common law. Many modern legal scholars believe this judicial tradition is unnecessary,but the homestead coroner cared little for ancient history or the opinions of law professors. Justice Kendrick charged his jury with hearing testimony regarding the Cash abduction and murder to decide if the facts warranted taking the case to trial.2 Several newspapers claimed that the six men would have difficulty returning a formal verdict since the exact cause of death was inconclusive. in fact, finding out how Skeegie Cash expired was not really necessary. no federal law had been broken, so the state would try the suspect. As noted, florida law allowed the death penalty for both murder and kidnapping for ransom (the so-called florida Lindbergh law), and George Worley intended to see the preacher’s son die in “old Sparky,” come what may. After a quick consultation with Dr.otto,the prosecuting attorney decided to sidestep the homicide indictment and charge McCall with kidnapping for ransom.3 “Most Cold-blooded thing i ever heard of” / 137 The inquest required that jurors observe certain formalities.Kendrick took the panel to visit the location where McCall had dumped the body. As the breeze fitfully swished among the trees and palmetto fronds, members of the jury caught a lingering odor of decomposed flesh.4 Worley then drove the group to the Cash home where the crime occurred. Journalists at the scene reported that “fifty spectators and six jurors heard unemotional, monosyllabic testimony from Cash senior that his only child, [aged] 5, was dead and [heard] the G-Men’s account of McCall’s kidnapping confession.”5 As if bailey Cash had not been through enough, he was forced to publicly recount how he had come home to find his son gone, how he’d received three ransom notes, and how he’d delivered the $10,000 to the kidnapper. SAC Connelley followed, describing how franklin Pierce McCall had led them to the dumpsite and confessed to taking the child.6 The panel then retired to an undisclosed location, and in less than fifteen minutes returned with the verdict: “We, the jury find that James bailey Cash Jr. came to death at the hands of franklin Pierce McCall.” Kendrick notified the prosecutor, and Worley set plans in motion for a quick trial.7 The press had a hard time reading the mood of the small crowd still milling around downtown Princeton. Many seemed as drained of emotion as the Cash family. Some reporters described the mob as “more sorrowful than vengeant [vengeful].”others noted that whispered hints of a “possible lynch party” still circulated through the crowd. The fbi took no chances with McCall. They sequestered him in a “sunless” room on the thirtieth floor of the Dade County Jail.8 Determined to leave no stone unturned and no victim of the tragedy to their private grief,newshounds cornered McCall’s father-in-law.Joseph hilliard expressed his desire to see justice done. in addition, he commented that Claudine “never expects to see him [McCall] again and she wishes nothing more to do with him.” (hilliard’s daughter, however, loved the scoundrel , and would later do everything in her power to keep him from receiving the death penalty.)9 for a legal proceeding, the case was progressing at white-hot speed. State’s attorney Worley received the grand jury indictment, dated June 14, 1938, and set the initial phase of the trial for the following day. Circuit court judge h. f. Atkinson would preside over the case. Atkinson had moved to Miami from titusville, florida, in 1896. he quickly established 138 / Chapter 14 a...